•Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State at Onitsha Main Market, on Monday
A representative of Onitsha Main Market traders, Gibson Okafor, has explained the reasons behind traders’ inability to open their shops on Mondays.
The Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, had on Monday ordered that Onitsha Main Market be shut down for one week due to traders’ perceived compliance with the Monday sit-at-home order by non-state actors, reports Channels TV.
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.
Reacting to the governor’s directive on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Wednesday, Okafor said that while the governor has provided security around the market, there is still no security presence on the routes to the market on Mondays.
“The governor promised security, but only what he will do, because some people are coming from Nkpor, Asaba, and other areas. They need transporters to operate and security along the routes so traders can come to the market.
“If they don’t see security men and transporters, they can’t come to the market. Everything has to be in order so that traders would have the means to reach the market. The governor promised us that — that is what I heard from them — but we haven’t seen it,” Okafor said.
He stressed the need to increase security presence while also calling on the governor to ensure that banks operate on Mondays so business can flow smoothly in the market.
Okafor lamented that the continued closure of commercial banks in Onitsha on Mondays makes it difficult for customers to access cash to purchase goods.
“Governor Soludo has put security everywhere, but for the Monday sit-at-home, they have to increase it and tell the banks to open. When the banks are closed, our customers won’t come to the market because they don’t have money to buy goods — that’s the problem,” he stated.
