In a move to enforce compliance with the state’s directive against the controversial Monday sit-at-home order, the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has ordered the immediate shutdown of the Onitsha Main Market and other adjoining markets for one week, in the first instance.
The governor announced 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.
“And let me tell you this: as I’m speaking to you now, when I finish this. This whole main market and all the adjoining …will be locked down for the whole of this week.
“There will be no market anywhere here. Are you hearing me? Each Monday, we’ll come and inspect. If people are not in their respective shops, they will be shut down again,” Soludo said while addressing traders at the market on Monday.
“If you like it, I don’t mind shutting down Main Market for the remainder of this year. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere and trade, but if you’re here, we’re not going to allow this.
“It’s plain economic sabotage, and also we suspect whoever closes their shop to have some criminal intent,” he added.
The action follows repeated defiance by traders at the popular Onitsha markets to open for business on Mondays despite government directives and warnings to disregard the sit-at-home order imposed by non-state actors.
He pointed out that the closure was a necessary step to send the appropriate signals, protect law-abiding citizens and reinforce the authority of the state.
According to him, the government cannot stand by while a few individuals wilfully undermine public safety and disregard official directives meant to restore normalcy.