An Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Maxwell Opara, has faulted Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision to order the closure of the Onitsha Main Market, describing the move as unlawful and a violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.
Opara, who spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Arise Television, argued that the executive directive amounted to trespass on private property and should be challenged in court. In his view, the governor overreached his constitutional authority by shutting a market largely made up of privately owned shops and businesses.
According to him, traders reserve the right to decide how and when to conduct their businesses, stressing that a voluntary decision by traders to stay away from their shops on any day cannot lawfully justify a government-imposed shutdown.
“The governor cannot simply order the closure of a market,” Opara said. “Such an action should be subjected to judicial scrutiny. Where traders choose to sit at home on a particular day, that is their prerogative. These shops are private property, funded and operated by individuals.”
He maintained that locking up businesses because traders declined to open on Mondays amounted to what he termed “executive recklessness”, insisting that the appropriate remedy lies in the courts.
Opara further advised traders to formally report any threats or intimidation compelling them to stay away from their shops, noting that government intervention should be limited to addressing security concerns rather than enforcing blanket closures.
Governor Soludo had on Monday ordered the immediate shutdown of the Onitsha Main Market, a development that has sparked debate among traders, legal practitioners and civil society groups over the scope of executive powers and the protection of economic rights..
