Anambra lifts one-week closure on Nkwo Nnewi after compliance, shuts Ihiala market for observing Monday sit-at-home.
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has reopened the New Motorcycle Spare Parts Market, popularly known as Nkwo Nnewi, after a one-week closure over non-compliance with the state government’s directive abolishing the Monday sit-at-home order.
The market was sealed last Monday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Trade and Markets, Hon. Evaristus Uba, following an inspection visit which reportedly revealed low trader turnout, signaling defiance of the government’s stance against the sit-at-home practice.
Uba had warned that failure by traders to resume full business activities the following Monday would result in an extension of the closure.
However, the ban was lifted on Monday after the Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon. Echezona Anazodo, visited the market and observed what he described as significant compliance among traders.
“I’m happy to know today that traders complied with the order to resume for business. I want to believe that if there was even half of this turnout last week, the market would not have been shut down,” Anazodo said.
He added that authorities would now focus on sealing shops belonging to traders who failed to open, rather than shutting down the entire market.
“We don’t want a situation where the entire market would be shut down just because of a few traders. Those traders should bear the brunt themselves,” he stated.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports indicate that a market in Ihiala Local Government Area has been shut down for alleged non-compliance with the state government’s directive against the sit-at-home order.
Sources said government officials visited the market and found it under lock and key, prompting a one-week closure.
Ihiala Local Government Area has been one of the flashpoints of separatist agitation in Anambra State, particularly during the height of Biafra-related unrest. Several camps were reportedly established in the area by criminal elements posing as agitators, making Monday commercial activities particularly risky at the time.
The state government has continued to insist that normal economic and social activities must resume across Anambra, warning that sanctions will be applied against institutions and markets that fail to comply.
