Traders at the bustling Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State resumed business operations on Monday, February 2, 2026, after a week-long standstill that had disrupted one of the region’s most important commercial hubs. The reopening followed a directive from Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who last week ordered the market closed in response to widespread compliance with a Monday sit-at-home call issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The directive saw traders, some of whom had kept their shops locked in observance of the non-state actors’ orders, return to their stalls as early as 8:45 a.m., setting up wares at key locations including Egerton Market, Ose Foodstuff Market and The Young Park, major entrances to the Main Market. Observers also reported activity at prominent commercial corridors such as Emeka Offor Plaza, Sokoto Road, Lagos Line, and Marine, with customers beginning to patronise shops across the sprawling marketplace.
The reopening followed heightened security measures deployed across the market to enforce compliance. Security personnel, including police and other agencies, were visible in and around the market precincts, a move the government said was aimed at reassuring traders and residents and deterring the influence of non-state actors.
According to the Channels Television report cited by The Punch, traders “have reopened their shops in compliance with a directive by the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo,” signalling a significant shift from last week’s shutdown. A source at the market described the scene as a return to normalcy. “It is clear that the traders are complying with government directives to ignore the sit-at-home order,” the report added.
The one-week closure had been ordered after many traders continued to observe the Monday sit-at-home call despite repeated warnings from the Soludo administration that adherence to non-state orders was tantamount to “economic sabotage” and undermined public safety. During an on-the-spot visit to the market last week, Governor Soludo had warned that if the market remained shut after seven days, the closure could be extended to a month, a threat that underscored the government’s determination to end the prolonged Monday shutdowns in the Southeast.
IPOB, for its part, had called for traders, transport operators, civil servants and other sectors to observe a peaceful sit-at-home in solidarity, contending that such actions highlighted political grievances. The group’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, had urged a wider lockdown across the region; however, in a development cited in the original report, the group’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor later dismissed the lockdown directive as “a fake” and “a calculated falsehood,” urging the public to ignore it.
The Anambra State Police Command also weighed in ahead of reopening, issuing warnings about what it described as coordinated social media efforts by some non-state actors to spread fear, misinformation and disrupt peace. The police urged residents to disregard unverified content online and to report suspicious activities, reinforcing the message that security forces were committed to maintaining order as commercial activities resumed.
Monday’s reopening at Onitsha Main Market represents a tentative de-escalation in a standoff that has tested the commercial resilience of the region and pitted government authority against non-state directives. Traders’ return to business is poised to ease some of the economic strains that prolonged closures have inflicted on one of West Africa’s busiest trading centres, even as underlying tensions over the sit-at-home continue to simmer.
