Onitsha Market Closure: Soludo to meet with market leaders

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has convened a “crucial meeting” with leaders of all the markets in the South-eastern state.

Evarist Uba, the special adviser to Governor Soludo on trade and markets, announced this in a circular addressed to market leaders in the state on Tuesday.

“Notice is hereby given to market executives in the state, including zonal chairmen and secretaries, and line chairmen and secretaries, to a crucial meeting with Mr Governor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, on matters of urgent importance,” Mr Uba said in the circular.

The special adviser said the meeting would be held on Thursday morning, 29 January, at the International Conference Centre in Awka, the state capital.

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Although he did not mention the reason for the meeting, there are indications that it is connected to the recent closure of the Onitsha Main Market by Governor Soludo over the traders’ observance of a sit-at-home directive.

The governor ordered the market closed for one week when he visited on Monday and observed that shops were closed in compliance with the illegal directive.

The illegal directive is often enforced by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Mr Soludo’s action has triggered heavy protests by angry traders in the state, who on Tuesday backed the Monday sit-at-home directive in honour of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.

On Wednesday, the protesters blocked the popular River Niger Bridge, which connects Onitsha in Anambra to Asaba, Delta State, in Nigeria’s South-south.

Meanwhile, the sit-at-home directive initially enforced by IPOB had resulted in deadly attacks and destruction of goods.

The illegal directive, usually observed on Mondays, began in the South-east in August 2021 when IPOB imposed it on residents of the region.

The directive was intended to pressure the Nigerian government to release its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The group later suspended the weekly directive, limiting it to days Mr Kanu appeared in court. However, residents of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra states continued to observe the directive largely out of fear.

Gunmen who often enforce the illegal directive have killed many residents and punished others for flouting the directive.

IPOB repeatedly distanced itself from the continued enforcement, insisting that those behind it were criminals exploiting the group’s name.

READ ALSO:Anambra govt abolishes sit-at-home in 12 more markets

Despite this, Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based Biafran agitator, continued to issue sit-at-home orders, even after being suspended by the IPOB faction loyal to Mr Kanu.

In July 2023, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Kanu, through his lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, directed Mr Ekpa to halt the action. Mr Ekpa dismissed the directive as fake, insisting the order would continue unless Mr Kanu personally addressed him in Finland.

Efforts by Igbo leaders, including Enugu Governor Peter Mbah, Anambra Governor Mr Soludo, and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to end the practice yielded limited results.

While the sit-at-home has largely disappeared in Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi states, it persists in Anambra and Imo.

Meanwhile, Mr Kanu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November, while Mr Ekpa received a six-year prison sentence in Finland for similar offences.