The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has condemned the Anambra State Government’s closure of Onitsha Main Market, describing it as punitive and a violation of traders’ fundamental rights.
The group faulted remarks attributed to Governor Charles Soludo directing traders to open shops Monday to Saturday or vacate the state, calling them an attack on economic freedom.
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At a press briefing on Monday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, the CDHR spokesperson, Jerry Onyibe, described the action as arbitrary and an infringement on traders’ economic rights.
Mr Onyibe said the government had a duty to maintain law and order, but must act within the law and respect citizens’ human rights.
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He noted that the constitution guaranteed the right to livelihood, freedom of movement and protection from arbitrary government actions.
“The traders and business owners are not responsible for insecurity in Anambra.
“They are victims who have suffered fear, income losses and threats to their lives due to unresolved security challenges,” he said.
He said shutting the market would worsen hardship, deepen poverty and fuel frustration in a state regarded as a South-east commercial hub.
The spokesperson said tackling insecurity should be the government’s priority, stressing that citizens should not be forced to trade under fear without guaranteed safety.
He urged the state government to protect lives and property, engage market unions and civil society, and adopt security strategies that protect rather than punish citizens.
Mr Onyibe also cautioned the governor against rhetoric or actions that could intimidate law-abiding residents or violate their rights.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Onitsha Main Market, one of West Africa’s largest markets, was shut on Monday on Mr Soludo’s orders.
The governor said the market would remain closed for one week, following the traders’ continued compliance with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB )’s sit-at-home directive.
According to him, it is the latest and perhaps most drastic approach to determine who controls time and economic life in South-east Nigeria on Mondays.
“The enemy is the long-standing, fear-enforced Monday sit-at-home order, a ghostly mandate from non-state actors that has strangled businesses and normalised weekly Monday sit-at-home for years.
“In spite of repeated assurances of enhanced security and appeals to reclaim public spaces, many traders at the iconic market again chose to keep their stalls locked,” he said.
He noted that the traders’ absence was not just a quiet rebellion, but one that spoke volumes about the lingering climate of apprehension.
NAN reports that economic activities have suffered in recent years due to insecurity, including sit-at-home directive by the proscribed IPOB and criminal violence.
While killings associated with the IPOB have reduced in the South-east, many residents are still reluctant to open their businesses on Mondays for fear of attack.
CDHR warned that development could not be achieved by shutting citizens’ means of survival.
“A prosperous Anambra can only be built when security, dignity and human rights are central to governance,” the group said.
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