By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Anambra State Government has vowed to continue on the inspection of major markets in the state on Mondays to ensure they are open for business with traders opening their shops.

This was stated by the state Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, stated this in Awka on Tuesday while reacting to allegations by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that shops were shut down in Onitsha Main Market last Monday because the traders failed to open for business.

IPOB had earlier in a statement made available to journalists in Awka accused Soludo's government of already sealing shops in the Main Market in fulfillment of his threat that shops that are not opened on Mondays would be shut down and reallocated to serious people.

The statement by IPOB's Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, partly reads: “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.

“To seal the shops of hardworking traders because they did not open on a particular day is not governance; it is 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?”

While noting that leadership is not about issuing threats or demonstrating force against one’s own people, IPOB called on the Governor to immediately reverse the action and unseal all affected shops immediately.

It noted that governance is about patience, persuasion, justice, and respect for the rights and dignity of citizens.

However, Dr. Mefor, the state Commissioner for Information, who spoke Tuesday in Awka, stressed that there was no record of any shop being shut down .

He said: “There is no record of any shop being shut down in Onitsha Main Market as a result of not opening for business on Monday.

“What I know is that some shops were shut down in Bridgehead Market, Onitsha, and I want to state that we will never relent. Every Monday we will continue to inspect the market and close down any shop that the owner fails to open for business.”

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