On Tuesday, January 27, 2026, traders at the Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State publicly challenged Governor Chukwuma Soludo after the latter ordered the market closed for one week, according to a report by PM News Nigeria.
Images of the vendors going around shouting “We stand with Nnamdi Kanu” have gone viral online, showing their solidarity with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader who is now doing time in prison. next IPOB’s Monday sit-at-home directives, security agencies the next day executed the governor’s order to close the market, which had been mostly closed the day before.
Despite the increased security measures, a huge number of traders assembled, dancing, singing, and carrying placards. After multiple failed attempts to convince merchants to reopen, Governor Soludo announced the shutdown on Monday. The governor said that the market’s inaction was an intentional attempt to harm trade and public security. The government will not sit idly by while certain disobedient citizens derail efforts to restore normal economic activity and public order. While inspecting the market alongside senior state officials and security personnel, Soludo made it clear that this was an act of economic sabotage.
He cautioned that a more severe shutdown of up to one month might ensue from failure to adhere to the one-week closure. Surveillance of the market was stepped up in an attempt to carry out the order. To guarantee compliance and forestall trouble, a combined task force of the Nigerian Army, police, and other security agencies was sent to key spots inside and surrounding the market.
But many merchants continued to be obstinate, refusing to open their doors and instead taking part in the public protest. In particular, the effect of IPOB-led sit-at-home orders on commercial operations is at the heart of the continuing animosity between the state administration and merchants, which has led to the current impasse. Government estimates put the weekly cost of Monday closures at billions of naira, with far-reaching consequences for the economy of Anambra State and the South-East region as a whole.
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