₦airaland Forum

I am impressed by the clinical compliance to our directives by Traders of the Onitsha Main Market. In the last five years Onitsha main market has remained shut on Mondays.

Yesterday, by the sheer will of our people, the jinx was broken! The market bustled like never before and… pic.twitter.com/QJZ0pSuInh

— Chukwuma Charles SOLUDO, CFR (@CCSoludo) February 3, 2026

"Traders know what they want. Once you do what they want they will acknowledge it. Once you put security on the ground the traders will react, and today they have reacted to the security on the ground," a businessman at Lagos Line, Onitsha Main Market reacts. pic.twitter.com/PYT8isMIYX

— Peoples Chronicles (@PChroniclesNG) February 2, 2026

Five Years Later: Drone Footage Shows Soludo Shopping at Reopened Onitsha Main Market.#AnambraIsRising#Solutioncontinues#SolutionIsHere pic.twitter.com/lHOLWZtdqe

— Anambra State New Media (@AnambraNewMedia) February 2, 2026

VIDEO: Sit-At-Home: Onitsha Market Traders Comply With Soludo’s Directive, Reopen Shops

Soludo had shut down the market for one week due to traders’ perceived compliance with the Monday sit-at-home order by non-state actors.

By Ignatius Igwe
Updated February 2, 2026

Traders of the Onitsha Main Market have reopened their shops in compliance with a directive by the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo.

Soludo had last Monday ordered that the market be shut down for one week due to the perceived compliance with the Monday sit-at-home order by non-state actors.

The governor also warned that if traders failed to open at the end of the one-week shutdown, the market would be closed for another week, and subsequently for longer periods.

However, a week after economic activities were grounded, the traders were seen trooping into the market.

A visit to the market on Monday, Channels Television observed that many traders resumed their businesses as early as 8:45am.

Starting from Egerton, to Ose food stuff market, down to The Young Park, one of the major entrances into the Main Market, many traders are seen setting up their wares. From Emeka Offor Plaza to Sokoto road, and to Lagos line and Marine, many traders have opened their shops while customers have started to patronize opened shops. It is clear that the traders are complying to Government’s directives of ignoring the situation at home order.

Sit-At-Home ‘Order’

The order, which has been in place for about four years, disrupted economic and social activities across the South-East and has been publicly condemned by the Soludo administration.

The state government had urged residents to go about their lawful activities without fear and shunning the illegal order, which it describes as an economic sabotage on the region.
Security personnel, including the police and the army, among others, were later deployed to seal the market gates and ensure compliance.

For years, parts of Anambra State have observed a Monday sit-at-home that disrupted commercial and social activities, leaving markets, schools, and workplaces deserted.

The practice, imposed by non-state actors in the South-East, has been widely criticised for harming the state’s economy, forcing traders, transport workers, and students indoors, especially in hubs like Onitsha.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has led efforts to end the shutdown.

In April 2022, he formally declared the sit-at-home over, announced amnesty for youths in hideouts, and promised a peace and reconciliation committee.

He has since said the practice has largely faded, stressing that Anambra is secure and urging residents to resume normal activities, though some still stay home out of caution.

Normal activities at Onitsha Main Market today pic.twitter.com/IQ6UdWkXwr

— Lere Olayinka - Aresa 1 (@OlayinkaLere) February 2, 2026

VIDEO: Onitsha market traders ignore sit-at-home order, reopen shops in compliance with Governor Soludo’s directive pic.twitter.com/P4gIxAYKqf

— Nigerian Affairs Journal (@NigAffairs) February 2, 2026

naptu2:
The financier of the armed autopiloters is in jail in Finland.

Finally Onitsha Main Market is open on Monday after so many years of Monday Sit at home. thanks to Governor Soludo. pic.twitter.com/aCHrQtAsXh

— Chukwunwike Ebenezer ifeanyi (@Ifeco83202464) February 3, 2026

Onitsha Main Market is open again, and security is now front and centre

In this conversation segment, Chief Evarist Uba, Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Markets, breaks down what the reopening means for traders, livelihoods, and the future of commerce in the state pic.twitter.com/6irMnD2i8W

— AfiaTvOfficial (@AfiaTvOfficial) February 2, 2026

Even banks are working in Onitsha today

Only Soludo could have done this

Umunne m ndi Anambra,

Thank you for not allowing propaganda sell today, we can disagree with our governor’s policies but never should it be heard that onye Anambra joined outsiders to destroy our state

Thank for joining @CCSoludo reclaim our land from non-state actors

Anambra is our only state and we must make it better for us

If you want to continue sit at home? Take it to your village ✌️

It's quite telling how IPOB supporters desperately tried to push the false narrative that Onitsha Main Market remained closed today.

They resorted to posting photos and videos taken as early as 6-7 a.m.—before the market fully came alive—to create the impression of a ghost… pic.twitter.com/dnlgYRrwen

— Senior Pastor Okezie James Atañi (@Onsogbu) February 2, 2026

The Man tasked By Soludo To Mark Attendance In Onitsha Main Market Records Only 17 Traders as At 8:30am today.

naptu2:
Oguntoye Opeyemi @equityoyo



https://x.com/i/status/2018304423659773995

"Most of the people in the Onitsha market are IPOB members, and they want to cash out on Nnamdi Kanu's name.

I like as the Government has come to stop it. You can not dictate to the government in a facility they established"

~ Barrister Darlington (Nnamdi Kanu's… pic.twitter.com/L9TlFI55LT

— Bachelor of Idan (@BachelorIdan) February 2, 2026

NEWS FLASH!

Traders at Onitsha main market complied substantially to the directive of the Anambra State Governor Professor Chukwuma Soludo to open their shops on Mondays.
A lot of the shops are open for business with security operatives heavily present within and across the market.

naptu2:
The financier of the armed autopiloters is in jail in Finland.