Traders of Ogbete Main Market, Enugu, Wednesday, held a peaceful protest over the sealing of their shops by the state government on Monday.
Those that were affected closed for businesses in compliance with Monday sit-at-home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. Mondays are being observed as sit-at-home in Southeast states since the detention of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in 2021. The group said the enforcement was to pressurise for his release.
In a viral video, the traders were chanting “we no go ‘gree oo, we no go ‘gree; tomorrow is here, we no go ‘gree.” ‘Tomorrow is here’ is the campaign slogan of Gov Peter Mbah.
The state government had earlier declared an end to the order, describing it as economic waste to the state. The state government, in a release by the secretary to the state government, Chidiebere Onyia, warned that it would seal and reallocate shops of traders that observed the order effective July 24.
Our correspondent reports that following substantial compliance with the order on Monday, two commercial banks located at Ogbete axis, and 107 shops were sealed by the state government.
The sealing was implemented by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, led by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Chidiebere Onyia, a professor.
Onyia said during the sealing that, “It is not a punitive but ownership culture, where all of us (should) come together to fight the menace of illegal sit-at-home.
“We are taking it up not because Mbah is in the business of stopping economic growth but to fight those that think they can intimidate us. We have been to ShopRite, Celebrity- a shopping mall – SPAR, (a supermarket) and others. We saw shops that were not open, and we sealed them.”
Sources said some traders removed the seals on their shops, prompting the intervention of security operatives to avoid breakdown of law and order.
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