Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, on Monday ordered the closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week over traders’ failure to comply with the state government’s directive to ignore the Monday sit-at-home order.
The governor issued the directive during an on-the-spot assessment of the market, accompanied by top government officials and security personnel.
Soludo warned that the shutdown could be extended if traders continue to defy the directive, adding that security agencies had sealed the market to enforce compliance.
Despite repeated assurances of improved security and sustained appeals for residents to reclaim public spaces, the governor said many traders once again kept their shops closed on Monday, a development he described as unacceptable.
“The government cannot stand by while a few individuals wilfully undermine public safety and defy lawful directives aimed at restoring normalcy. This is economic sabotage,” Soludo said.
“We will not tolerate it. The closure is a protective measure for law-abiding citizens.”
He issued a further warning that failure to reopen after the one-week shutdown would attract a stiffer penalty.
“If this market does not reopen after one week, it will be sealed for one month. You either decide to trade here or go elsewhere. I am very serious,” the governor added.
The closure was enforced by a joint security task force comprising personnel from the police, army, and other security agencies, who were deployed around the market on Monday.
The move underscores the state government’s intensifying efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home, which has disrupted economic activities across parts of the South-East for years.
Attention will now shift to next Monday, when the market is expected to reopen, to see whether traders return to their stalls or maintain the boycott, an outcome that could shape the future of Monday economic activity in Anambra State.
The state government had earlier directed traders and businesses to resume normal operations on Mondays as part of measures to stabilise the economy and curb losses linked to the recurring sit-at-home.
In a related move, the government recently announced that it would begin pro-rata salary payments for civil servants as another strategy to discourage Monday absenteeism.
The Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, said the policy—effective from February 2026—would tie workers’ pay to attendance on Mondays. He explained that the decision was taken at the end-of-tenure retreat of the Anambra State Executive Council in Awka, which reviewed the administration’s performance and outlined priorities for the new term beginning on March 17, 2026.
