Soludo’s Market Shutdown Triggers Backlash
The clash unfolded in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Monday when the Indigenous People of Biafra reacted sharply to Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision to shut the Onitsha Main Market for one week after traders stayed away from business in defiance of the state’s directive to resume activities on Mondays.
The closure followed an inspection by the governor, who said repeated appeals to traders had been ignored.
Authorities said the continued sit-at-home was draining the state’s economy, costing Anambra billions of naira weekly and affecting the wider South East through lost trade and disrupted work.
Governor Soludo said the government would not watch while public directives were ignored, describing the situation as economic sabotage and warning that the market could remain shut for as long as one month if compliance did not improve.
Security operatives, including the police and army, were deployed to seal the market, with barricades placed around the area to enforce the order.
In response, IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful criticised the move and urged residents to return to trading, calling the shutdown disappointing and unacceptable.
He said no governor has the authority to punish citizens for peaceful civil action and described the use of market closures as intimidation rather than governance.
He maintained that the sit-at-home was a peaceful protest linked to the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu and insisted that residents should not be ruled by fear or threats.
The state government said the shutdown was aimed at restoring normal economic life and warned that further defiance could attract tougher measures.
The governor urged traders to decide whether they wanted to operate under the new order, insisting that normal business must return
