Soludo Warns of Market Revocations as Anambra Moves to End Monday Closures
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has threatened to revoke shops and properties in Onitsha Main Market and other markets across the state over continued defiance of government directives on Monday trading.
Soludo issued the warning on Wednesday during a media briefing in Awka, where he reiterated his administration’s resolve to end the sit-at-home practice in Anambra, insisting there was “no going back” on the policy.
The governor said Onitsha Main Market was shut after traders ignored earlier warnings despite repeated assurances of safety by the state government. He added that similar sanctions would be imposed on any market that failed to open on Mondays.
Describing the persistent closures as “pure sabotage” of the state’s economy, Soludo questioned why traders operated daily, including Sundays, during the Christmas and New Year festivities but shut their shops afterwards.
He said the government would further engage leaders of market associations to restate and enforce operational guidelines across the state, describing the move to reclaim Mondays as a fight to “save Anambra’s economy and our children’s future.”
Soludo maintained that the state remains secure, stressing that sit-at-home ended about two years ago. He said anyone enforcing Monday closures was a saboteur with criminal intent to keep Anambra economically backward.
The governor noted that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had publicly disowned sit-at-home orders, adding that many people previously complied under coercion. He recalled visiting IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), saying Kanu also expressed displeasure over the practice.
“On January 26, everywhere was open except the main market, which is a government-owned facility,” Soludo said, adding that the market had been shut for the week and would remain closed until compliance was guaranteed.
He warned that allocations could be cancelled and the facility repurposed if defiance persisted, noting that most occupants of the market were illegal.
Dismissing calls for the citation of enabling laws, Soludo said appropriate legal backing for the action was already being put in place.
The governor said Anambra recorded one of its safest Christmas periods, with markets operating fully throughout the yuletide, describing Monday closures as “plain laziness.”
Soludo also highlighted efforts by his administration to engage stakeholders, offer amnesty and rehabilitate youths, noting that over 15,300 young people had benefited from skills acquisition programmes.
He stressed that Anambra is open for business from Monday to Saturday, while public service runs from Monday to Friday, warning that workers who stay away on Mondays would receive only 80 per cent of their salaries.
“We will sustain a massive onslaught on criminal elements and their sponsors,” the governor said.
