There was tension at the Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State on Monday as traders staged a protest after being barred from opening their shops by the state government.
The protest followed a directive by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo ordering the temporary closure of the market after traders allegedly defied his instruction to stop observing the weekly Monday sit-at-home.
Eyewitnesses said hundreds of traders gathered at the market entrance early in the day, chanting solidarity songs and expressing frustration over the continued closure of their shops. Some protesters accused the government of inflicting economic hardship on law-abiding traders who depend on daily sales for survival.
The traders argued that the sit-at-home order was imposed by non-state actors and that many of them reopened their shops in response to the governor’s call to resume normal economic activities across the state.
Security operatives were reportedly deployed to the area to prevent a breakdown of law and order, while access to parts of the market remained restricted.
Governor Soludo had earlier warned that markets and businesses that continue to comply with the sit-at-home would face sanctions, insisting that the policy was hurting Anambra’s economy and discouraging investors.
