Video: Onitsha market sealed as security forces enforce Soludo’s crackdown
Abdullateef Fowewe
Security operatives have cordoned off Nigeria’s bustling Onitsha Main Market, enforcing Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s unprecedented one-week closure order amid escalating tensions over the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)-enforced Monday sit-at-home.
The shutdown, which began on Monday, January 26, serves as punishment for traders who defied the sit-at-home order—a weekly disruption linked to IPOB’s demands for the unconditional release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Video footage circulating online shows armed personnel in camouflage and riot gear blocking market entrances with orange barriers, as scattered traders gather in protest amid rows of empty stalls.
The sit-at-home orders have already inflicted massive economic damage, with weekly losses in Onitsha alone estimated at N8 billion, crippling Southeast Nigeria’s commercial lifeline.
Governor Soludo’s measure aims to restore order and economic activity, but protesting traders insist compliance will persist until Kanu’s release, fueling fears of broader unrest.
This standoff highlights deepening separatist tensions in the region, where IPOB’s influence continues to challenge state authority.
