Commercial activities began to pick up in Anambra State’s major cities, which had previously been deserted due to the sit-at-home on Monday.
The sit-at-home order initially ordered by the Indigenous People of Biafra, in solidarity with their detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had long been suspended, as announced by the group’s Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.
Despite the cancellation of the directive, the people still complied because of attacks by hoodlums.
A tour round the major cities of Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Ogidi, and Awka, revealed that most marketplaces, workshops, and motor parks, which used to be under lock and key, were open for business.
Unlike previous Mondays, food vendors and hawkers of various fruits and wears, such as shoes, clothes, belts, eyeglasses, and plastic items, among others, took over the entire place.
Although banks, schools, petrol stations, and some offices were shut, the situation was different from every past Monday.
While some people attributed the sudden change of activities to the Yuletide season fast approaching, others said it was due to the recent announcement of the cancellation by the Indigenous People of Biafra.
A resident of Onitsha and a commercial driver, who identified himself as Chukwuma Somtochukwu, told newsmen that the increase in activities was encouraging, as according to him, every place is busy with vehicular and non-vehicular movement.
He said, “I don’t know what is holding the banks and schools from opening on Monday so that this sit-at-home will totally be a thing of the past. I’ve been plying Onitsha to Awka with full passengers since the morning, and people are on the road without harassment.”
Also, a student of Delta State University, Celina Ezeh, said that she boarded a vehicle from Asaba, Delta State, to Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra State at about 12 pm and, to her surprise, everywhere was bubbling with activity.
At the Nkpor minimarket, near Onitsha, commercial buses plying the Upper Iweka and tricycles blocked the entire place as they waited for passengers.
The situation was the same at the Nkwo Nnewi Triangle market; business activities were also in full swing.
