Traders at the New Motorcycle Spare Parts Market, otherwise known as Nkwo Nnewi, on Monday complied with Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s directive, reopening for business to curb the longstanding Monday sit-at-home order.
Soludo, through his Special Adviser on Trade and Markets, Chief Evarist Uba, had earlier shut the market during a visit, faulting traders for defying government instructions to open for commercial activities on Mondays.
During the visit, Uba had threatened that if after one week the traders failed to turn up for Monday business, he would extend the ban.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the ban was lifted on Monday after the chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Echezona Anazodo visited the market and found huge compliance among the traders.
According to him, “I am happy to see that traders complied with the order to resume for business.
“I want to believe that if there was even half of this turn out last week, the market would not have been shut down.
“But now that most of you have complied, we will go round the market and seal the shops of traders who failed to open.
“We don’t want a situation where the entire market would be shut down just because of few traders, instead, those traders should bear their brunt themselves,” he said.
