CDHR CONDEMNS THE ONGOING CLOSURE OF ONITSHA MAIN MARKET; DEMANDS IMMEDIATE REOPENING AND PROTECTION FOR TRADERS
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) strongly condemns the current shutdown of the Onitsha Main Market. This action, following the directives of the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, is a heavy-handed approach that holds the livelihoods of thousands of citizens hostage.
As the gates of the Onitsha Main Market remain locked today, the state government is effectively punishing the very people it is sworn to protect. Compelling traders to choose between their safety and their right to do business, under the threat of permanent closure or expulsion from the state, is a violation of the fundamental human rights and economic freedoms guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.
The CDHR maintains the following positions:
Traders are Victims, Not Villains: The business owners in Onitsha are not responsible for the security vacuum in Anambra State. They are victims of a system that has failed to provide adequate protection. To lock them out of their places of business is to double their burden.
Security is a State Duty: The responsibility to neutralize security threats lies with the government and security agencies. It is a reversal of roles to demand that unarmed traders “defy” insecurity at their own peril without a visible and superior security presence.
Economic Sabotage: Shutting down the largest market in West Africa inflicts immediate poverty on families and disrupts the regional supply chain. This is not a solution to insecurity; it is a self-inflicted economic wound.
We call on Governor Soludo to:
Immediately Order the Reopening of Onitsha Main Market to prevent further economic ruin.
Deploy Visible Security to the market and surrounding areas to give traders the confidence to operate without coercion.
Cease Punitive Rhetoric that blames law-abiding citizens for the activities of non-state actors.
The government must lead with empathy and strategic protection, not with locks and ultimatums. You cannot secure a state by starving its heartbeat.
Signed:
Comrade Godwin Anyeb, Vice President Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR)
