By Okoroafor Uchechukwu
For over six years, traders and residents across the South-East have observed the weekly Monday sit-at-home as a collective decision and a symbolic act of solidarity with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who remains in detention by the Nigerian government.
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This action, though controversial, has been embraced largely by traders, who form the backbone of the South-East economy, as a peaceful means of expressing political grievance and demanding justice.
The economic impact of this action has been enormous. Estimates suggest that the region loses hundreds of billions of naira weekly due to the closure of markets and businesses every Monday. No one denies the gravity of these losses, neither the traders nor the government. However, economic hardship can never be a justification for the use of force or intimidation against citizens.
Recently, the directive by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo ordering markets to open on Mondays and the subsequent deployment of security operatives to enforce compliance represents a dangerous overreach of state authority. Traders are not civil servants, nor are they employees of the state government. They are independent business owners whose right to choose when and how to conduct their business is protected under a democratic system.
The attempt to compel traders through security presence has only escalated tensions, turning commercial areas, especially Onitsha, the commercial heartbeat of the South-East, into zones of fear and uncertainty.
The reported clashes between armed men and security operatives are a tragic reminder that force breeds resistance, not peace. Since Monday, Anambra State has remained tense, with businesses, families, and communities caught in the middle of an avoidable confrontation.
This situation must be stated clearly:
The traders are not the enemy.
They are not criminals.
They are not rebels.
They are citizens exercising what they believe to be a moral and political right.
Supporting a man many consider to be fighting for their collective freedom, rightly or wrongly, is not a crime. In a democracy, sympathy, protest, and political expression cannot be crushed with boots and guns.
History has repeatedly shown that suppressing popular sentiment only deepens resentment and prolongs instability.
Governor Soludo’s administration must understand that peace cannot be enforced; it must be negotiated. The South-East has already paid too high a price in economic losses, fear, and bloodshed. What the region needs now is dialogue, inclusion, and confidence-building, not militarization of marketplaces.
We therefore condemn in totality the use of coercion and intimidation against Onitsha traders and call on the Anambra State Government to:
Immediately de-escalate security presence in markets
Engage trader unions, traditional leaders, and civil society groups in sincere dialogue
Advocate at the national level for political solutions to the issues fueling unrest in the South-East
Peaceful coexistence can only be achieved when government listens to the people, respects their choices, and addresses the root causes of discontent not when it attempts to silence them by force.
The markets of Onitsha are not battlefields.
The traders are not subjects.
And Anambra State deserves peace built on dialogue, justice, and mutual respect.
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