The Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has said the failure of traders at the Onitsha Main Market to open their shops on Monday is an act of economic sabotage, insisting that the sit-at-home order stopped in the state in 2023.
This was made known by Governor Soludo while speaking at a press briefing in Awka, Anambra State on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, to address his decision to shut down the Onitsha Main Market.
Soludo has described as “delusional” the claim by some traders in the Market that they do not open their shops on Mondays due to insecurity.
Soludo said the state government would not hesitate to revoke shop ownership rights or even take over and redevelop the market if traders fail to comply with the directive to resume Monday trading.
Soludo dismissed claims that insecurity was responsible for traders staying away on Mondays, noting that markets operated throughout the yuletide period without incidents.
He said, “I want to say clearly that the Monday sit-at-home is deliberate economic sabotage and it will not be allowed to continue. If it comes to revoking shop ownership or even taking possession of the market, we will do what is necessary to put things right.
“If insecurity was the issue, why were there no problems when traders opened from Monday to Saturday and even on Sundays during the festive season?” Soludo asked. “People go for meetings, exercise at stadiums and move around freely on Mondays, yet their target is Onitsha Main Market.
“It could be said that since 2023, anybody saying he didn’t open the shop because of insecurity is just delusional.
“Go round some other places that are more insecure, and the markets are open. Onitsha, of all places, Main Market, with over 150 security personnel, and you are saying the reason you are not open is because of insecurity? Absolute nonsense.’’
Soludo argued that if the same traders could go to the stadium on Mondays to play, exercise on the roads, or engage in street trading, they could just as well open their shops.
“But you are in the stadium playing, insecurity allows you to go to the stadium to play, allows you to be working out on the roads, allows street trading all over the place, the roads are blocked with street trading — but insecurity doesn’t allow you to open your shops at the Main Market,” the governor said.
Governor Soludo on Monday, January 26, 2025, ordered the immediate closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week following the continued observance of the Monday sit-at-home by traders.
The governor described the sit-at-home as a long-standing threat to economic life in the region, noting that despite repeated assurances of improved security and appeals to reclaim public spaces, traders at the market once again kept their shops closed.