Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo on Monday, shut Onitsha International Market for one week, following the failure of the market leadership to open for businesses against the directive of the government.
Mr. Chris Aburime , the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, who conveyed this in a statement, said the act was an administrative penalty, and a salvo in a protracted war over who controls time and economic life in the market on Mondays.
The Independent People Of Biafra (IPOB) had in the heat of its struggle for an independent state of Biafra issued a sit-at-home order for residents of South East region on Mondays to protest the marginalization of the region by subsisting governments in the country.
The leader of IPOB, Mazi Nmandi Kanu, has been jailed,but the order still subsists in the entire South East as people stay at home on Mondays without going to their shops to transact businesses.
Condemning the act, Soludo said the enemy is the long-standing, fear-enforced Monday sit-at-home order, a ghostly mandate from non-state actors that has strangled businesses and normalized weekly monday sit-at-home for years.
He explained that the move is a direct response to what the government sees as baffling defiance.
He lamented that despite repeated assurances of enhanced security and appeals to reclaim public spaces, many traders at the iconic market again chose to keep their stalls locked.
Their absence, he said, was a quiet rebellion, but one that spoke volumes about the lingering climate of apprehension.
“The government cannot stand by while a few individuals willfully undermine public safety and disregard official directives meant to restore normalcy.
“This is plain economic sabotage. We are not going to allow this”, the statement quoted Soludo to have stated.
The closure, the statement said was a protective measure for the “law-abiding citizens., while threatening to escalate the ultimatum by one month if at the expiration of the one week closure the market fails to reopen for business.
“After this one-week shutdown, it will be sealed for a month. You either decide that you are going to trade here or you go elsewhere. I am very serious about this”, the Governor insisted.
The scene at the market was one of tense enforcement. A joint task force of police, army, and other security personnel moved swiftly to secure the perimeter, turning away the few hopefuls who approached.
“For the Soludo administration, the solution is unwavering enforcement to break a psychological barrier. The strategy is clear: make the cost of compliance with the illegal sit-at-home order higher than the fear that drives it.
” By targeting the economic heart of the region, the government aims to trigger a collective shift in behavior, betting that the traders’ desire to trade will ultimately outweigh their fear.
“As the gates remain locked this week, the standoff in Onitsha encapsulates the broader struggle in the Southeast. It is a fight over normalcy, authority, and the fragile psyche of a populace caught between enforced directives and imposed orders.
“When the gates are scheduled to reopen next Monday, all eyes will be on the traders. Will they return to their stalls, emboldened by the state’s show of force? Or will the silent, empty aisles deliver a different verdict?
“The answer will determine not just the fate of a market, but the rhythm of life in Anambra for Mondays to come,” the statement added.