BY CHIKA OKEKE
The Anambra State Government has directed the reopening of Onitsha Main Market on Monday, an order that signaled the end of sit-at-home.
This followed the directive issued by the Governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo on Monday, January 26, 2026, ordering the immediate closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week over the traders’ continued compliance with IPOB's forced sit-at-home.
Shortly after inspecting the market, the governor noted that the shutdown was a direct response to the failure of the market leadership to open on Mondays against the government’s directive.
Soludo warned that if traders failed to open at the expiration of the one-week shutdown, the market would be closed for another week and subsequently for longer periods.
The development heightened tension in the State on Tuesday, January 27, as traders staged a protest over the closure of Onitsha Main Market by the state government.
News Rider reports that the traders numbering over 2000 marched round the market hailing the incarcerated leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
On Wednesday, the protesters blocked the River Niger Bridge, which connected Onitsha in Anambra State and Asaba in Delta State.
To enforce the governor's directive, hundreds of security personnel were sighted barricading the market, while many security vehicles, including Armoured Personnel Carriers and Hillux vans, were used to block strategic locations across the area.
They prevented the traders from gaining access into the market premises while the shops remained under lock and key.
But in a statement issued on Sunday, the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor announced that the one-week closure elapsed on Sunday, directing traders to resume normal business on Monday.
He said: "Accordingly, all traders are hereby directed to resume business as usual on Monday, February 2, 2026, as there is no longer any form of sit-at-home on Mondays in Anambra State.
"Ndị Anambra and residents are assured of adequate security and are encouraged to report any security concerns to 5111.
"Meanwhile, civil servants and teachers are reminded that the pro-rata salary system remains in force — no work on Monday, no pay.
"Parents are also advised to release their children for school on Mondays to avoid sanctions."
IPOB Talks Tough
Meanwhile, a faction of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had declared Monday, February 2, as sit-at-home across the Southeast.
The IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful in a statement on Friday, hinted that the sit-at-home directive was in protest against the closure of the Onitsha Main Market by Governor Soludo.
He said: "The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the resolute and prophetic leadership of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, hereby declares a Biafra-wide solidarity strike, a complete lockdown of all economic activities across Igboland and wider Biafran territories, on Monday, 2 February 2026.
"This strike is not enforcement; it is a voluntary, collective expression of outrage and solidarity with the hardworking traders of Onitsha, whose livelihoods are now under direct assault by a governor who has chosen to act as an enforcer for anti-Biafran interests rather than a servant of his people."
Powerful lamented that Soludo’s closure of the Onitsha Main Market and his reckless threats to revoke allocations and rebuild it amounted to economic warfare against the people of the Southeast and Southsouth.
"It is designed to break the spirit of peaceful civil disobedience that has highlighted the injustice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention despite sham proceedings.
"Therefore, all Biafrans – traders, transporters, banks, schools, civil servants, and every sector across Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, and beyond – to observe this solidarity strike peacefully.
“Remain indoors, refrain from all commercial and public activities, and demonstrate to the world our disciplined resolve.
“This is not about disruption for its own sake; it is about standing with Onitsha traders who are being punished for demanding justice, and reaffirming that no governor can coerce free citizens into abandoning their rights or their solidarity."
Police Assures Protection
Already, there is widespread fear in the Southeast States of Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo after the IPOB declared a sit-at-home in the region on Monday.
The Anambra State Police Command has stated its resolve to protect the lives and property of the residents.
Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga disclosed that criminal elements capitalised on the sit-at-home to create tension in the state.
He said: "The state government, in collaboration with Ndi Anambra has now resolved to correct harmful practices arising from the security situation, including the illegal sit-at-home and closure of markets on Mondays.”
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