A significant legal and economic dispute has emerged in Anambra State, Nigeria, as human rights lawyer Barrister Ikechukwu Obasi has filed a comprehensive suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The lawsuit targets Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, the Attorney General of Anambra State, the Commissioner of Police of Anambra State, and the Inspector General of Police. The core of the legal challenge revolves around the state government's decision to close the Onitsha Main Market and other markets across Anambra due to traders' continued observance of the Monday sit-at-home directive.

Barrister Obasi, representing the traders of Onitsha in a public interest litigation, contends that the market closures and the Governor's directives constitute a grave violation of the traders' fundamental human rights. Filed under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, Obasi's suit argues that these actions infringe upon rights such as personal liberty, freedom from forced labour, human dignity, freedom of movement, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the right to privacy, economic development, and freedom of expression. These rights, he asserts, are guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (CAP A9) 2011.

The lawyer’s awareness of the dispute stemmed from a viral video, dated January 26, 2026, where Governor Soludo explicitly warned traders that markets must operate from Monday to Saturday. During an unscheduled visit to Onitsha Main Market, Soludo declared, “Markets are open Monday to Saturday. If you are not prepared to open your shops Monday to Saturday, then leave Anambra, go elsewhere; period.” He further enforced this by announcing the immediate shutdown of the market for the remainder of that week, specifying it would not reopen until the following Monday. Obasi’s suit, filed on January 28, 2026, argues that this directive unlawfully forces the government’s will upon traders, compelling them to adhere to a state-imposed timetable rather than exercising personal choice in their business operations.

According to Obasi, from January 27, 2026, police operatives, acting under state government instructions, began enforcing the shutdown. This enforcement, he claims in his affidavit, led to civil unrest, unlawful arrests, teargassing, and significant economic hardship for the traders. He describes these enforcement actions as a gross violation of fundamental rights, emphasizing that the voluntary sit-at-home is a lawful form of protest protected by Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter. He further alleges that the government’s actions amount to forced labour, a breach of human dignity, and an unlawful restriction of traders’ freedom of movement, association, and economic activity.

In his lawsuit, Barrister Obasi seeks several critical declarations and orders. He demands a declaration that Governor Soludo’s threat to shut down markets and shops for observing a lawful sit-at-home on January 26, 2026, violates fundamental rights to personal liberty, peaceful assembly and association, freedom of movement, and economic, social, and cultural development. He also seeks declarations that the actual shutdown from January 27, 2026, the mandatory order compelling markets to open Monday to Saturday or for traders to leave the state, and the police enforcement all constitute breaches of various fundamental rights, including freedom from forced labour, human dignity, and privacy. Furthermore, he asks the court to declare that observing a lawful sit-at-home is an exercise of the traders’ fundamental right to peaceful protest and lawful expression, and that clamping down on such activities violates their rights to privacy, peaceful protest, and lawful expression.

Beyond declarations, Obasi also seeks court orders. He requests an order affirming that the threat to shut down Onitsha market and shops as a sanction for observing a lawful sit-at-home is a fragrant violation of fundamental rights, as guaranteed under Sections 35, 39, 40, and 41 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 22 of the African Charter. He specifically requests an order of injunction mandating Governor Soludo and the Attorney General to rescind the market shutdown order and restraining the Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police, along with their agents, from further enforcing the “illegal shutdown.” The lawyer is also seeking substantial damages: ₦2 billion from Governor Soludo for engaging the police in an “unlawful” act violating traders’ rights, and ₦50 million from the Commissioner of Police, the IGP, and their officers for similar violations. His written address cited case law supporting general damages for fundamental rights violations causing economic and psychological harm.

Meanwhile, Governor Chukwuma Soludo has maintained his stance on the market operations. In a statement issued on Saturday by Commissioner of Information, Law Mefor, following a meeting with market leaders in Awka, Soludo claimed that the enforcement of the Monday sit-at-home order across the state is largely carried out by non-indigenes. He announced an agreement with market leaders to ensure markets operate from Monday to Saturday, emphasizing efforts to restore full commercial activities, particularly in Onitsha Main Market, which he had initially shut down for a week over sit-at-home observance. The Governor stressed that the continued sit-at-home practice has severely undermined the state’s economy, arguing that it has degenerated from a political protest by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) into a “criminal enterprise” that no longer serves the interest of the imprisoned IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Soludo recalled extensive engagement over four years, including discussions, pleas, and even prayer sessions in April 2022 to end the practice, declaring it was “now time for more action.” He warned that the state government would deploy “extreme measures” to enforce compliance. The governor also presented market leaders with a “renovate or rebuild” option for the Onitsha Main Market, suggesting either demolishing existing structures for a new complex or comprehensively modernizing current facilities. Regardless of the chosen option, he reiterated that markets would no longer be allowed to shut down on Mondays.

In response, the market leadership expressed willingness to comply with the government’s directive but voiced concerns over security and logistics, which they identified as past impediments to Monday trading. Mr. Chijioke Okpalugo, Chairman of the Onitsha Main Market, assured the governor that traders would begin operating on Mondays, aligning with the administration’s “One Anambra” vision. The leaders also called for a more visible security presence in markets, the full operation of motor parks to facilitate access for buyers from outside the state, and firm action against individuals who benefit from or facilitate the sit-at-home order. Governor Soludo, in turn, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to rejigging market security across the state, promising an overhaul of the security architecture in major commercial centres to prevent harassment and intimidation, declaring that “Igbo land and Anambra will move forward.”