• Governor mandates Monday school resumption, threatens closure of defaulters
• CP leads enforcement of market closure

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the Governor Charles Soludo’s threat to revoke the ownership rights of the Onitsha Main Market as a punishment for the Monday sit-at-home in the state.

Soludo had shut down the Onitsha Main Market after traders refused to open for business despite the government’s directive. He had vowed that the market would remain shut for one week.

The traders had reported for businesses on Tuesday but met locked entrances. They therefore resorted to protesting against the government’s actions, a development that prompted the governor to threaten further steps to revoke market ownership rights and bring it down.

But in a statement yesterday, IPOB described the governor’s latest stance as “punitive”. It viewed it as nothing “short of a carefully scripted, malevolent agenda orchestrated from Abuja to sabotage the Biafra restoration movement from within, right under the watchful eyes of the international community.”

IPOB ‘s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, called on Nigerians to ask why the governor had taken the extreme measure to punish the traders who are sympathetic to its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

“This is the question we should all ask ourselves. Soludo himself admitted that during the Christmas shopping season, markets flourished on Mondays without incident, utterly debunking the fabricated narrative of intimidation or fear as the driver of sit-at-home observance.

“This exposes the lie peddled by Nigerian authorities and their media puppets, that our people cower in terror when, in truth, the Monday closures are a voluntary, peaceful civil disobedience by Onitsha and Aba business owners and traders to demand the immediate release of Kanu. Yet, this legitimate expression of solidarity has been grotesquely twisted by propaganda machines to drown out the real cause: justice for our leader and self-determination for Biafra,” he said.

IPOB called on Biafrans to stay disciplined, peaceful, and resolute in the non-violent resistance, urging the international community, human rights bodies, and well-meaning Nigerians to hold Soludo accountable for the inflammatory threats that endanger lives and economic livelihoods.

However, the Anambra State Government has directed all categories of schools in the state to ensure full resumption of academic activities on Mondays, warning that non-compliant schools would be shut down.

The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, disclosed this in a statement yesterday in Awka. She said that a circular conveying the directive had already been issued to school authorities.

Defending the closure of the market for one week, Soludo expressed frustration that traders had ignored repeated warnings to comply with the sit-at-home order.

He also dismissed the idea of operating a four-day work or school week, insisting that schools would also be sanctioned if they fail to open on Mondays.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, CP Ikioye Orutugu, is leading security operatives at the Onitsha Main Market to enforce the one-week closure ordered by the governor.

Speaking during the reinforcement exercise at the market, the CP said his presence was to further reinforce public order, safety, and confidence across the metropolis and its environs.

Orutugu said the visit is an assessment tour to personally supervise and evaluate the deployment of police-led joint security forces at strategic locations within Onitsha.