The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday said Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has started implementing his threat to seal the shops of some Onitsha Main Market traders who complied with the sit-at-home order.
In a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, IPOB warned the governor to reverse the decision immediately.
The pro-Biafra group described the governor’s action as authoritarian and reckless.
It would be recalled that Soludo had threatened to seal the shops after some traders refused to open their shops despite his administration’s moves to stop compliance with the sit-at-home order.
The governor had earlier closed the market for a week over the same issue, warning that the facility would be shut for a month if traders persisted with sitting at home in Mondays.
In protest against Soludo’s action, IPOB declared a sit-at-home on February 5, 2026. Traders who did not open their shops on that day were threatened with the sealing of their shops.
IPOB has since then announced the final cancellation of the weekly Monday sit-at-home in the South-East, following a directive by its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Condemning the sealing of shops in Onitsha Main Market, IPOB asked Soludo to immediately reverse the action to avoid economic losses, and potential breakdown of law and order.
The statement said, “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has received credible reports that the Anambra State Government under Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has commenced the sealing of shops at Onitsha Main Market in execution of his earlier threat against traders who did not open their businesses on Mondays.
“This action is deeply troubling, reckless, and authoritarian.
“Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has repeatedly and publicly called for an end to the sit-at-home and the violent enforcement of it by any individual or group. That position has not changed. The sit-at-home, where it occurs, is a voluntary civil expression of solidarity by ordinary people who are pained by the continued illegal detention of our leader. It is not a policy of coercion, and it is certainly not something that can be reversed overnight by threats, intimidation, or punitive state action.
“Governor Soludo, as an economist and self-professed intellectual, should understand basic human behavior. Societal patterns and public responses do not change at the snap of a finger simply because a governor issues threats from a podium or moves around with a long convoy. People are not automatons. They are citizens with fears, experiences, and memories of past injustices.”
According to IPOB, sealing the shops of hardworking traders because they did not open on a particular day is not governance but collective punishment.
“Even under a simple landlord-tenant relationship, a landlord cannot lawfully lock out a tenant for not sleeping in the house on a particular day. Such an act would amount to unlawful eviction. How then can a governor, who is merely a trustee of public authority, attempt to seal shops belonging to citizens who have committed no crime?
“IPOB wishes to make it clear that intimidation, threats, and economic punishment will not produce the normalcy Governor Soludo claims to desire. Instead, such heavy-handed tactics risk provoking unnecessary tension and deepening mistrust between the government and the people.
“We strongly advise Governor Soludo to immediately reverse this ill-advised action and unseal all affected shops. Leadership is not about issuing threats or demonstrating force against one’s own people. Leadership is about patience, persuasion, justice, and respect for the rights and dignity of citizens.”
IPOB said it is particularly disappointing that a governor of Igbo extraction would adopt tactics that mirror the humiliation and economic destruction Igbos have suffered in other parts of Nigeria.
“The duty of an Igbo governor is to protect his people, not to traumatize them with the same instruments of intimidation used elsewhere.
“IPOB remains committed to peace, lawful conduct, and a negotiated political solution. We have consistently warned that actions capable of provoking the people should be avoided. Those in authority must act with restraint and wisdom, not with authoritarian impulses.
“Governor Soludo should tread carefully and act in a manner that promotes healing, unity, and respect for the rule of law,” the statement added.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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