There is palpable tension across Anambra State as traders and leaders of the Onitsha Main Market brace for a crucial Monday reopening ordered by the state government, amid renewed threats from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and warnings of sanctions from authorities.
The uncertainty follows a statement issued last Friday by IPOB, through its spokesman Emma Powerful, calling on traders, transporters, banks, schools, civil servants, and other sectors across the South East to observe what it described as a “peaceful solidarity sit at home” on Monday. The directive, according to the group, was in protest against the continued detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and in reaction to the Anambra State Government’s recent closure of the Onitsha Main Market.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo had ordered the one week shutdown of the market over the persistent observance of the Monday sit at home, a move that has since intensified tensions between the state government, traders, and pro Biafra groups.
In its statement, IPOB accused the Soludo administration of attempting to suppress what it described as peaceful civil disobedience. Powerful said the closure of the market was “designed to break the spirit of peaceful civil disobedience that has highlighted the injustice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention despite sham proceedings.”
As the Monday reopening approached, concerns also emerged from civil society and intellectual groups. In a press statement released by the Forum of South East Academic Doctors, FOSAD, signed by its President, Dr Stephen Nwala, and Secretary General, Dr Uzor Ngoladi, the body urged caution and advised Governor Soludo to reopen the Onitsha Main Market in a manner that prioritises trust and safety rather than coercion.
“It is important to state clearly that no governor, no matter how well intentioned, can force traders to open their shops for business on Mondays,” the statement said. “Participation in economic activity, particularly in a volatile security context, cannot be coerced through threats, market closures, or militarised enforcement. Fear cannot be legislated away, nor can economic activity be sustained at gunpoint.”
FOSAD criticised what it described as the conflation of authority with legitimacy by the state government, warning that punitive measures could worsen economic hardship and deepen distrust between the government and citizens. According to the group, the sit at home crisis is fundamentally a socio political and security issue that requires dialogue, intelligence led security, and confidence building measures rather than force.
Despite these concerns, the Anambra State Government has remained resolute. Speaking on Saturday, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, insisted that the sit at home had evolved from a political protest into a criminal enterprise undermining the state’s economy.
Quoting Governor Soludo during a meeting with market leaders in Awka on Friday, Mefor declared that all markets and shops across Anambra State would remain open on every working day. He added that those enforcing the sit at home order were largely non indigenes and warned that the government would deploy “extreme measures” if defiance continued.
According to Mefor, the meeting was convened to address both the closure of the Onitsha Main Market and the long standing Monday sit at home that has crippled commercial activities in the commercial hub of the South East.
At the meeting, the Chairman of the Onitsha Main Market, Mr Chijioke Okpalugo, reportedly assured the governor that traders would resume business on Monday. Market leaders, however, requested a more visible and proactive security presence to guarantee the safety of traders and customers.
Further details of the agreements reached emerged through two audio recordings allegedly made by market leaders and circulated to traders via WhatsApp. The recordings, obtained by journalists and confirmed by a high ranking government official, revealed strict enforcement measures tied to the reopening.
In one of the clips, a market leader speaking in Igbo disclosed that attendance registers would be introduced across all market lines. Traders who failed to open their shops risked losing ownership.
“He said anyone who does not come to the market risks having their shop ownership revoked, and such a person would be told how much to pay before ownership can be regained,” the market leader said in the recording.
The leader added that Governor Soludo had promised to deploy security operatives to strategic locations on every market day to ensure safety. Failure to comply with the directive, he warned, would attract severe sanctions.
The audio further revealed that the governor announced plans to demolish and reconstruct the Onitsha Main Market within three years, reverting to the original master plan. Market leaders were instructed to communicate their acceptance of the plan as implementation would commence immediately.
The leader also cautioned that the current market closure could be extended beyond Monday, February 2, if traders failed to resume business.
Appealing directly to traders, he urged them to comply, stressing that attendance would be strictly monitored and supervised by local government officials.
“Please, I am appealing and begging everyone to come to the market and open their shops for business. Do not later say you were not informed,” he said, adding that excuses would not be entertained.
“The mayor of the local government will be coming to inspect the attendance registers, so there will be no way to escape it,” he added.
Backing up these warnings, Commissioner Mefor said traders who failed to reopen their shops would be identified and sanctioned.
“By Monday, we’ll know those who still insist on staying at home. That’s why the governor ordered that every shop must be opened. If it is not opened, you are a saboteur,” Mefor said.
“If you don’t open your shop, you’re part of economic sabotage because there is no insecurity to justify the continued lockdown of Onitsha every Monday,” he added.
Mefor further alleged that a section of Onitsha traders whom he claimed were members of IPOB were responsible for enforcing the sit at home order within the market. He warned that the government would revoke shops belonging to traders who continued to comply with IPOB directives.
“We will take note of shops that don’t open on Mondays and revoke them. We will revoke them and compensate the owners. They can go and form an IPOB market somewhere else,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the market will reopen under a comprehensive security lockdown involving the army, police, civil defence corps, and the state’s Agunechemba security outfit.
Dismissing claims of insecurity, Mefor insisted that the Onitsha Main Market had never lacked security, noting that the Onitsha Merchants Association alone maintains over 150 armed security personnel.
“The market has never been under insecurity, except that a section of traders who belong to IPOB are forcing others not to trade on Mondays,” he said.
Mefor concluded that the state government had moved beyond the sit at home debate and was determined to restore full economic activity and begin immediate reconstruction of the market.
“There is one government in Anambra State. Soludo is not a weak leader. He has been pleading with them for two years. Enough is enough,” he declared.
As Monday approaches, traders remain caught between fear of reprisals from IPOB enforcers and the threat of government sanctions, leaving the reopening of the Onitsha Main Market as both a test of authority and a defining moment in Anambra’s struggle to end the sit at home crisis.
