Video: Onitsha traders defy sit-at-home, flood main market after Soludo’s crackdown
Abdullateef Fowewe
Traders at Nigeria’s bustling Onitsha Main Market returned in force on Monday, shattering years of enforced sit-at-home orders with packed stalls, eager shoppers, and heavy traffic.
A viral video captured the vibrant scene on what was once a ghost day, signaling widespread compliance with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s aggressive enforcement drive.
Last week, Soludo issued a stern “riot act,” slamming the market shut for a week over sit-at-home adherence, vowing to seal non-compliant shops, deduct salaries from absent workers, and deploying armed security to back his stance, Dailyeconomy reports.
Soludo framed the Monday lockdowns—tied to IPOB’s Biafran agitation—as economic sabotage, crippling Anambra’s revenue by billions of naira weekly, according to state estimates.
Today’s reopening marks a potential turning point, promising an economic boost but heightening friction with separatist groups, who blasted the shutdown as oppressive overreach.
