Security forces have sealed major entrances to Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State, enforcing a one-week closure ordered by Governor Chukwuma Soludo. The shutdown follows traders’ defiance of the Monday sit-at-home directive linked to IPOB pressures, despite repeated government appeals for business to resume.
Governor Soludo issued the shutdown on Monday after an unscheduled visit to the market revealed that many shops remained closed despite repeated state government appeals for traders to resume normal business activities on Mondays.
The one-week closure forms part of the government’s broader effort to curb the injurious sit-at-home practice observed in parts of the South-East, particularly on Mondays. The sit-at-home—initially introduced in 2021 by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in solidarity with its jailed leader—has been linked to periodic disruptions of economic life and security fears in the region.
Soludo described the traders’ continued observance of the sit-at-home in spite of assurances of improved security as “economic sabotage,” warning that if the market does not fully reopen after the seven-day shutdown, the closure could be extended to one month.
A joint task force comprising police, army personnel and other security units was deployed around the market to enforce the shutdown, with barricades and security vehicles positioned to prevent entry.
The move has drawn mixed reactions. While the government insists the steps are necessary to restore normal economic activity, pro-sit-at-home groups have urged traders to ignore the closure order and return to their stalls, framing the shutdown as intimidation rather than governance.
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