Traders Beg Soludo as Anambra Govt Marks 10,000 Shops for Demolition at Onitsha Main Market
- Traders in Onitsha Main Market have begged Governor Soludo after 10,000 shops were reportedly marked for demolition
- Many who spoke with Legit.ng expressed despair, claiming the planned action puts millions of lives and livelihoods at risk
- Soludo had defended the move, insisting the market will be modernised while illegal structures are addressed
Traders in Onitsha Main Market have begged Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra state to reconsider his stance on the planned demolition of 10,000 shops at the popular Onitsha Main Market, the largest market in West Africa.
Source: Getty Images
The traders in the market suggested that demolishing the structures, as proposed by Mr Governor, will throw millions of families into frustration and untimely deaths.
Soludo had recently marked the shops for demolition, giving traders a 14-day ultimatum to move. He insisted that his government is making efforts to bring new life into the market.
He expressed concern that traders had erected structures on walkways and drainage channels without considering how such actions would obstruct the free movement of people and vehicles within the market.
The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to restoring the Main Market to its former glory and cautioned government officials against approving illegal shops, stressing that his government would not tolerate such practices.
According to him, his initial intention was to level the entire market and build a modern class market within two years. He, however, said after several pleadings, he decided to modernise the market, a move he said would affect several shops, not all.
He stressed that before the end of 2026, the market that prides itself as the largest in West Africa will regain its lost glory.
Anambra traders' fears about shop demolitions?
However, in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng correspondent at the Onitsha Main Market on Wednesday, February 4, traders in the market begged Soludo to jettison the planned action. They clamoured that any move to implement what he said would lead millions of traders to their earlier graves.
A trader at the Bright Street arm of the market, who gave his name simply as Ndubisi Nzewi, said that he would take his own life if the governor went ahead to demolish his shop.
He said, "My brother, as you are looking at me now, I am between the devil and a deep blue sea. My shop was demolished two times in Lagos. The developments forced me to come back to my own state to buy a shop here in the Onitsha Main Market."
"I used every savings I had while in Lagos to buy a shop here. Now again, my state governor is planning to demolish my shop. I don't think I have any other option than to commit sùìcìdè if this happens."
He begged the governor to completely forget about the planned action, contending that such a move would send many into their early graves.
Source: Facebook
Another trader at the Johnson Street arm of the market, who gave his name as Egwuonwu Awugosi, said that his house and pharmaceutical shop were burnt in Borno state; a development that sent him and his family back to Anambra state.
He said that his friends raised some money that enabled him get a shop at the Onitsha Main Market to enable him survive the aftermath of the Borno experience. He begged the governor not to demolish shops in the market, so that traders would not be sent begging in the streets.
Onitsha Main Market: More traders speak
Another trader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of being victimised, insisted that his shop is not an illegal structure, as it was legally procured. He claimed that a government official (name not mentioned) was one of the persons who signed his Allocation Paper in the market, and wondered why it would be termed illegal and marked for demolition.
While begging Governor Soludo for leniency, the trader contended that if 10,000 shops are demolished in the market, over 10 million individuals will be affected, directly and indirectly.
He said, "If these 10,000 shops are demolished, it is not only ten thousand persons that will be affected. About ten million people will be affected. It will affect wives and children, office boys and girls, members of the extended family, parents, customers all over the federation, and a multitude of people who depend on the trader for livelihood."
Many other traders affected by the planned demolition, who spoke with Legit.ng, also begged Governor Soludo to consider the current economic reality in the country, so that he would not demolish their shops.
Onitsha traders reject Soludo market shutdown
In a related development, Legit.ng reported that Onitsha Main Market traders refused to comply with Governor Charles Soludo’s directive to close the market, citing the IPOB sit‑at‑home order that typically keeps traders home on Mondays.
Traders argued that the shutdown amounted to collective punishment, affecting willing business owners who opened their shops. Many continued trading despite the governor’s order, saying dialogue rather than enforced closure would restore normalcy.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
