Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has ordered the immediate closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week over the continued observance of Monday sit-at-home by traders, despite government directives to resume business.
The order was issued in Onitsha on Monday after the governor visited the market and found it largely shut, a development he said amounted to defiance of official instructions by market leadership.
Soludo described the action as the government’s most decisive step yet to challenge what he called the long-standing, fear-driven sit-at-home practice imposed by non-state actors in the South-East.
“The enemy is the fear-enforced Monday sit-at-home order that has strangled businesses and normalised economic shutdowns for years,” the governor said, noting that traders again failed to open their shops despite assurances of improved security.
He said the persistent closure of the market reflected a climate of fear and posed a threat to economic life in the region, stressing that the government would no longer tolerate actions that undermine public safety and recovery efforts.
Soludo warned that if the market fails to reopen at the end of the one-week closure, the government would extend the shutdown to one month or longer.
“You either decide to trade here or go elsewhere. I am very serious about this,” the governor said.
The Onitsha Main Market is one of the largest commercial hubs in West Africa and a key driver of economic activity in Anambra State.