- Safiu Kehinde
Chukwuma Soludo’s one-week closure of Onitsha main market has triggered huge protest by traders.
NPO Reported that Soludo had on Monday declared the suspension of activities in the market following his arrival and discovery of locked stores and shops by the traders in compliance with the Monday sit-at-home order.
With the order orchestrated by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) already lifted by the Anambra state government, Soludo expressed his disappointment with the traders’ continued observation of the order.
He reiterated the cancellation of the sit-at-home while imposing the one-week suspension of trading activities in the past.
This tend not to have gone down well with the traders who on Tuesday morning stormed the market in numbers to protest over the governor’s directive.
Videos shared on X showed the protesters expressing their solidarity with convicted IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, whose initial detention led to the declaration of the sit-at-home order by the secessionists.
Subsequent videos showed the protesters running after the arrival of police operatives who fired sporadically in the air to disperse the protesting traders.
See video below