By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Anambra State Government has declared that traders who failed to open their shops on Monday, despite Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s directive against the sit-at-home practice, will face penalties.
The Governor’s Special Adviser on Markets, Everest Uba,issued on
Monday, 9 February, 2026 during an interview on Arise Television, where he said the state had fully reopened for business and that adequate security had been put in place to protect lives and property.
Uba said the directive followed the reopening of markets across the state on Monday, 2 February, 2026, after Mondays had been largely inactive for about five years.
He stressed that the government was determined to restore full economic activities and end the culture of forced shutdowns.
According to him, government officials embarked on monitoring visits to major markets to assess compliance with the governor’s order.
“Today, we went around again with the Chief of Staff, the Commissioner for Information, and some other media people to check the level of compliance in the market,” Uba said.
He noted that the Onitsha Main Market recorded near-total compliance, with most traders resuming business and commercial activities thriving.
“The main market is fully complied. About 98 per cent of the shops were opened, with bustling activities,” he said.
However, Uba disclosed that some markets, including Ochanja Market, were yet to fully comply, prompting immediate enforcement actions.
“Other markets are yet to fully comply, like Ochanja,” he said.
Consequently, he said the government, acting on the governor’s directive, began sealing sections of markets where traders failed to open their shops.
“Through the directive of Mr Governor, if the markets are not opened, we’ll seal the line and let them go on holidays for about a week or two. That is what we did today,” Uba said.
He further revealed that monitoring teams had marked several market lines for shutdown due to non-compliance, insisting that the state would not relent in enforcing the order.
“We monitored, and there are some lines that have been marked for shutdown because Anambra is on the rise,” he said. “Anambra has come back again. Since Monday last week, activities are back in the market.”
Addressing security concerns, Uba maintained that traders and residents had gone about their businesses in recent weeks without incident.
“People went shopping these past Mondays and nothing happened,” he said, stressing that security across the state remained guaranteed.
While acknowledging that some traders still stayed away from their shops, he said such actions would attract sanctions.
“Some of them did not come to the market, but we are going to penalise them for not complying with the directive of Mr Governor,” Uba said.
The state government has continued to urge traders to fully return to their businesses, reiterating its commitment to reviving economic activities and restoring confidence in Anambra’s markets.
