Anxiety gripped Anambra State on Sunday as traders and leaders of the Onitsha Main Market faced uncertainty ahead of Monday’s planned reopening of trading activities, amid renewed threats by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.
The tension followed a directive issued by IPOB on Friday, warning residents across the Southeast against resuming normal activities. The group described the order as a solidarity sit-at-home.
In a statement signed by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, IPOB called on traders, transport operators, banks, schools, civil servants and other sectors to comply with the directive. The group said the action was in response to the Anambra State Government’s week-long closure of the Onitsha Main Market.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo had ordered the shutdown of the market over continued observance of the Monday sit-at-home in the state.
Powerful described the decision as one “designed to break the spirit of peaceful civil disobedience that has highlighted the injustice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention despite sham proceedings.”
The Anambra State Government, however, rejected IPOB’s position. The Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, said on Saturday that enforcement of the sit-at-home had moved beyond political protest and had taken a criminal dimension.
Quoting Soludo’s remarks during a meeting with market leaders in Awka on Friday, Mefor said all markets and shops across the state would remain open on every working day.
He added that individuals enforcing the sit-at-home were mostly non-indigenes and warned that “extreme measures” would follow continued defiance.
According to him, the governor convened the meeting to address the closure of the Onitsha Main Market and the long-standing Monday sit-at-home that had disrupted commercial activities in the state.
Traders To Sign Attendance Registers
Mefor disclosed that the Chairman of the Onitsha Main Market, Mr Chijioke Okpalugo, assured the government during the meeting that traders would resume business on Monday.
Market leaders also requested “visible and proactive security presence” to protect traders and customers.
Audio recordings attributed to market leaders and obtained by Sunday PUNCH revealed further details of the resolutions reached at the meeting. The recordings were shared with traders through WhatsApp to ensure compliance.
Correspondents confirmed the authenticity of the recordings through a high-ranking official.
In one of the recordings, a market leader said attendance registers would be introduced across all market lines. He warned that traders who failed to comply could lose their shops.
He said the governor promised to deploy security operatives at strategic locations on every market day to ensure safety. He also warned that failure to resume trading would attract stiff penalties.
“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,” he said.
The leader added that Soludo announced plans to demolish and rebuild the market within three years, in line with the original master plan.
“He instructed us, the market leaders, to hold a meeting and communicate our decision to him, as he intends to begin implementing everything he has outlined immediately,” he said.
He warned that the current market closure could be extended if traders failed to return by Monday, February 2.
Appealing to traders, he urged strict compliance.
“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.
“Also, do not come to tell me, ‘Chairman, please mark that I came to the market,’ because I will not do that. As it stands, we are all affected by these decisions.”
He added that local government officials would supervise compliance.
“The mayor of the local government will be coming to inspect the attendance registers, so there will be no way to escape it.”
Anambra Threatens Shop Revocation
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Mefor warned that traders who failed to reopen their shops would face sanctions.
“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,” he 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 alleged that some traders, whom he identified as IPOB members, were responsible for prolonged compliance with the sit-at-home order.
Mefor said the state government would revoke shops belonging to defiant traders.
“We’ll 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.
“The market will reopen on Monday. The plan is a complete security lockdown for Onitsha — not just the main market. The army, police, civil defence and our own Agunechemba are all fully deployed,” he said.
He dismissed claims of insecurity, insisting that the market had always enjoyed security coverage.
“Even the Onitsha Merchants itself has about 150 security agents they pay monthly. They are fully armed. So 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 said the government had moved beyond the sit-at-home issue, adding that reconstruction of the market would begin immediately.
“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 said.
Ethnic Leaders Urge Caution
The President of the Ala-Igbo Development Foundation, Prof Awuzie Unachukwu, criticised the threat of sanctions against traders, warning that the approach could worsen insecurity and economic hardship in the Southeast.
Unachukwu said many residents stayed indoors on Mondays out of fear, noting that commercial activities had already declined across the region.
He described the government’s stance as ill-timed and politically risky.
He said, “The responsibility of government is clear. There were other things that could have been done. People have expressed their fears and spoken about their past sad experiences. What was needed was reassurance, such as stationing armoured vehicles at market entrances and ensuring some sense of security, whether real or symbolic, until people feel safe enough to return to the markets.”
He added that human life outweighed economic losses.
“Who is really losing? How much does an average trader make in a day? People are not willing to lose even N50 if it means risking their lives. Life is more valuable. People in Nigeria are in danger,” he said.
Unachukwu acknowledged that normalcy was gradually returning, noting that Monday trading had resumed in many Southeast states.
The immediate past National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Alex Ogbonnia, also called for an end to the sit-at-home order.
Ogbonnia said the continued shutdown of economic activities was hurting the region and stressed that the crisis could be resolved without undermining livelihoods.
He said Igbo leaders supported Soludo’s position.
“It is a protracted issue which has been happening for over 10 years. We have had dialogue with IPOB members, various organisations and stakeholders have intervened, but all interventions have failed,” he said.
Ogbonnia argued that the case involving Nnamdi Kanu required a political solution, not just legal action.
Meanwhile, the Imo State Police Command said it had deployed adequate security to prevent a breakdown of law and order following IPOB’s sit-at-home threat across the region.
The command’s spokesperson, Henry Okoye, urged residents to ignore the threat and continue their lawful activities peacefully.
