Traders at Onitsha Main Market have announced their decision to stop observing the Monday sit-at-home, expressing readiness to resume full business operations in line with directives from the Anambra State Government.

The commitment came on Thursday during an interactive session between Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and market leaders from across the state. The meeting followed the recent closure of the Onitsha Main Market and the prolonged Monday shutdown that has significantly disrupted commercial activities in the South-East.

Speaking on behalf of the traders, Onitsha Main Market Chairman, Mr. Chijioke Okpalugo, stated that traders were prepared to operate on Mondays to support the governor’s vision of a “One Anambra.” He, however, called for enhanced security measures to safeguard lives and property.

Governor Soludo emphasized that all markets and shops across Anambra State must remain open on every working day, including Mondays, declaring that the era of sit-at-home-induced market closures was over.

Addressing Onitsha traders directly, the governor offered a “renovate or rebuild” plan for the market, giving the option of either a complete redevelopment into a modern trading hub or a comprehensive overhaul of existing structures. He insisted that business operations must continue regardless of the option chosen.

Soludo dismissed claims linking the sit-at-home to the detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, calling the enforcement of the shutdown a criminal enterprise. “It is not linked to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He does not support the sit-at-home. If it doesn’t happen in Umuahia, his hometown, why Onitsha and Nnewi?” the governor questioned.

He also alleged that many individuals enforcing the sit-at-home were not indigenes of Anambra State and warned that the government would take stringent measures if defiance continued.

In response, market leaders requested a visible and sustained security presence in markets, full operation of motor parks to facilitate the movement of buyers and goods, and decisive action against those benefiting from or enforcing the sit-at-home order.

The governor assured traders that the state’s security architecture around markets would be overhauled, pledging protection for Anambra’s commercial centres from harassment and intimidation.

“Igboland and Anambra will move forward,” Soludo affirmed.