Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has vowed to extend the clampdown on more markets across the State if traders refuse to open their shops on Mondays, in compliance with the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Soludo insisted that his administration would not rescind the decision to abolish the Monday sit-at-home in markets across the State, particularly in Onitsha and Nnewi.
Governor Soludo, who made the declaration during a press conference held on Wednesday at the Light House, Awka, the state capital, pointed out that the sit-at-home ended in 2022.
The governor added that only those bent on promoting economic sabotage were responsible for the agitation of Biafra in the State.
The governor reiterated that the Anambra State Government could no longer close its eyes to calculated economic sabotage, noting that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had since dissociated himself from the exercise when he (the governor) visited him in detention on his resumption of office as governor in 2022.
“I visited Nnamdi Kanu when I assumed office and he told me he is not happy with the sit-at-home thing because it’s a way of holding the people down. He said they want to turn the South-East into a desolate homeland and he told me that was wrong,” Soludo said.
“We engaged, we offered amnesty programme, we established a committee to identify the remote causes of the violent agitations, including setting up the ‘Missing Persons Bureau’, but this still persists,” he said.
Soludo, however, expressed worry that despite several engagements with the traders, market leaders, and other stakeholders with respect to plans to stop the sit-at-home in markets, the exercise had continued at Onitsha Main Market.
He explained that the closure of the market was a long-term measure aimed at returning the state to economic stability.
“The purpose of this press conference is to clarify the issues at hand and why this must be deepened, this is a struggle for the soul of Anambra’s future. On Monday, I went down to Onitsha, drove through the streets, the traders were on the streets, everywhere was bubbling,” he said.
The governor maintained that the Onitsha Main Market remained the property of the state government and that the government had the power to revoke shop ownership of any trader who refused to comply.
“But at the Main Market, a government-owned market, everywhere was locked except few traders who were trading by the roadside. This was a serious concern that required urgent intervention which led to the closure of the market for one week.”
He said there are no negotiations in the ongoing exercise to return normalcy to the markets.
Soludo threatened that if by next Monday, shops in the main market remained closed again, the state government would shut it down and every trader would have to come for recertification.
He said: “The Onitsha Main Market was opened on Mondays throughout the Yuletide season and after the Yuletide, it became locked again, that shows that it was no longer a sit-at-home. The earlier sit-at-home, people sat at home, and that ended three years ago.”
“Anambra is on the rise, we have secured Anambra. It’s a sabotage and criminal intent to keep Anambra behind with the senseless sit-at-home and we will do everything possible to ensure no one keeps us behind while the world is moving forward.”
“We cannot realise the potential of Anambra if we didn’t tackle this now. When I assumed office, we engaged all stakeholders, and we had several releases from IPOB that they did not support the sit-at-home.”
“If you love Igboland, and you are talking about sit-at-home, there must be a mental problem with the person. How will the children grow if you keep them away from going to school Mondays? You want to force the region to be observing four days official activities while the world is on five days, it does not make sense.”
“We may want to ask, why Anambra? Why are they targeting Onitsha and Nnewi markets and majority of the people doing this are not from Anambra. We came in first, we didn’t want to coax anyone, we visited every market and we told them to open the markets.”
“Anybody saying it’s insecurity that is making them not to open on Mondays at the Onitsha Main Market, it is a lie because there are about 150 security personnel at the market and you can’t talk about insecurity.”
The governor stated that the cost of the Monday sit-at-home to the state was enormous, and that the current action to reclaim the state from economic saboteurs was a moment of reckoning and a time when people must stand for the truth.
“People talk about the revenue from there, but the revenue from the main market is actually a pittance; it’s about potential. If you don’t open for business on Mondays, you are affecting the people’s economy.
“They said it’s their rights, fair enough, but I have the rights to revoke their licenses for operations. The Onitsha Main Market is owned by the state government. If you don’t start opening the place on Monday and observe the full operational days, we will revoke your ownership and give the place to Agunechemba.”
“We are determined on the fight. We are prepared, enough is enough. I am concerned because the people have given me the permission to be their chief servant, it is for the sake of our children, the poor people who depend on the market for daily survival.”
“This fight is to secure Anambra and reassure our investors that Anambra is not a four-day week, there is a full working week in this state, people, civil servants, traders must come out on Mondays. For us, this is a moment of reckoning.”
“The calculated economic sabotage to bring down Onitsha must be tackled and on behalf of the Anambra people, we will tackle it head-on, we have exercised enough restraint.”
He said, “Anybody saying he didn’t open for business because of insecurity is just delusional. Insecurity allows you to go to the stadium to play, it allows you to do walk outs on the streets, but it didn’t allow you to open your shop.”
He vowed that the state was still launching a massive onslaught on criminal elements, pointing out that “Anambra is now one of the safest states in Nigeria. This is not politics; it is about livelihood.”
“It is about the poor woman on the streets, it is about investors who are already flooding in because if you avoid doing business on Mondays, it means we have wasted 20 per cent of the economic operations.”
“We have been patient since 2024 and 2025, but in 2026, we will help you close your shop if you refuse to open on Monday. I have the power to revoke the ownership of shops”.
“There are criminals, saboteurs, and some politicians who are instigating the sit-at-home.
“You are sabotaging your state and impoverishing the common people, the artisans, petty traders, and the poor people. I will bring the full weight of the government against this nonsense. It has to stop.
“We have dialogued with the leaders of the market since past two years, and, IPOB sit-at-home ended two years ago”, Soludo warned further.
He further said that his government would prescribe regulations that would be passed into law to regulate operations in the Main Market so that any shop owner who violated the law would face the consequences of such a breach.
He also said that his administration has already produced a master plan for the construction of the Onitsha Main Market, saying that his government was just taking time to make sure that necessary arrangements were put in place to provide alternative spaces for traders when the reconstruction kicked off.
He added, “As for keeping those shops open, there is no negotiation, you either open or you leave the place. By Monday, if it remains close again, we will now shut it down and every trader will have to come. We are not joking about this.“