In a decisive move to end the persistent Monday shutdown of markets across Anambra State, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has announced enhanced security deployment to strategic market locations.
This is in a bid to restore traders’ confidence in government’s ability to protect them and normal business activities.
Speaking in Awka on Thursday during a meeting with market executives and line chairmen, the governor said additional security operatives would be stationed in and around markets beginning this Monday.
The intervention, he explained, is to protect traders and dismantle the fear that has forced markets to remain closed.
Soludo assured traders that the state government would work closely with market leadership to overhaul existing security arrangements and keep operatives on ground for as long as necessary.
“We are going to work with you. We will allow security personnel to stay with you for weeks if necessary.
“Security is not just about guns; it is also about will and mindset,” he said.
As part of the measures to restore economic activities, the governor also directed that all motor parks in the state must open on Mondays.
He warned that any park that defies the order will be shut down for one week.
He took a hard line against those enforcing Monday closures, declaring that anyone who shuts shops or markets is aiding criminal elements loyal to Simon Ekpa and other forces destabilising Anambra and the South-East.
“Anybody found closing shops on Mondays will be treated as a criminal. We cannot harbour criminals in Anambra State,” Soludo warned.
Reporting threats to security agencies
The governor urged traders and residents to report threats or intimidation, assuring them that security agencies would track down and arrest those behind such messages.
“If anyone sends you threatening messages, forward them to us. We will get those criminals. We will also provide you with additional security personnel,” he said.
Soludo regretted that what began as a sit-at-home order had degenerated into a blanket shutdown of economic life on Mondays.
He described the situation as illogical.
“On Mondays, people go to churches, clubs and stadiums, but they claim markets cannot open.
“Anyone who says markets are shut because of insecurity needs a mental examination,” he stated.
He dismissed claims linking the sit-at-home to the detention of Nnamdi Kanu, describing such narratives as false and misleading.
“It is completely untrue and absolutely crazy to associate sit-at-home with Nnamdi Kanu’s detention.
“If it were about him, why is there no sit-at-home in Umuahia, his hometown?” he asked.
According to the governor, criminal elements enforcing the shutdown are deliberately targeting the region’s economy, insisting that Anambra and the South-East must be rescued from such forces.
“We cannot destroy the people we claim to be fighting for. Anambra must move forward. Igboland will move forward.”
Reviving major markets
Soludo also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to reviving major markets, particularly the Onitsha Main Market.
He lamented the distortion of its original master plan by illegal structures and shanties.
“We are prepared to spend money to restore life to the main market,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of Onitsha Main Market, Chijioke Okpalaugo, told the governor that traders comply with the sit-at-home order out of fear for their lives.
He appealed for sustained security presence in markets and reopening of motor parks.
Okpalaugo also demanded a review of lengthy Monday church programmes, and the resumption of banking activities on Mondays.
The Secretary of the market, Mr. Chibuzor Nwosu, echoed the call for security operatives to remain in the markets for several weeks to build lasting confidence before any withdrawal.
