Anambra, Nigeria – January 31, 2026 — A human rights lawyer, Barrister Ikechukwu Obasi, has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the Attorney General of Anambra State, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, and the Inspector General of Police, challenging the closure of Onitsha Main Market and other markets in the state.
The suit, instituted under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 and filed on January 28, 2026, centres on the governor’s directive ordering markets to remain open from Monday to Saturday, with a warning that traders who fail to comply should leave the state. The closure of Onitsha Main Market and other trading hubs from January 27, 2026, was enforced by police operatives following traders’ continued observance of Monday sit-at-home orders.
In the originating motion, Obasi, representing the traders of Onitsha in a public interest litigation, argued that the governor’s actions and the subsequent enforcement by security agencies constitute gross violations of the traders’ fundamental rights 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) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2011.
The affected rights, according to the suit, include:
- Right to personal liberty (Section 35)
- Right to freedom from forced labour (Section 34)
- Right to human dignity (Section 34)
- Right to freedom of movement (Section 41)
- Right to peaceful assembly and association (Section 40)
- Right to privacy (Section 37)
- Right to economic, social and cultural development
- Right to freedom of expression (Section 39)
- Corresponding provisions under Articles 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 22 of the African Charter
Obasi became aware of the dispute after a viral video surfaced showing Governor Soludo making an unscheduled visit to Onitsha Main Market on Monday, January 26, 2026, where he issued the directive:
“Markets are open Monday to Saturday. If you are not prepared to open your shops Monday to Saturday, then leave Anambra, go elsewhere; period,” Soludo said in the video.
He added: “So, this market will be shut down for the remainder of this week. It will not be opened tomorrow, it will not be opened on Wednesday, it will not be opened on Thursday, it will not be opened on Friday. It will open again on Monday.”
Obasi contended in his affidavit in support of the motion that the governor’s order compelled traders to operate their businesses according to a government-imposed timetable rather than their personal or collective choice. From January 27, 2026, police operatives enforced the shutdown, leading to civil unrest, unlawful arrests, teargassing of traders, and severe economic hardship for thousands of market operators who depend on daily sales for survival.
The lawyer described the voluntary Monday sit-at-home as a form of lawful protest and expression protected under Section 39 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter. He argued that the government’s response amounted to forced labour, a breach of human dignity, and an unlawful restriction on freedom of movement, assembly, association, and economic activity.
Among the reliefs sought in the suit are:
- A declaration that the threat to shut down Onitsha Main Market and traders’ shops as a sanction for observing the lawful sit-at-home on January 26, 2026, violates the traders’ fundamental rights to personal liberty, peaceful assembly and association, freedom of movement, and economic, social and cultural development.
- A declaration that the actual shutdown of the market and shops from January 27, 2026, by the governor and Attorney General constitutes a breach of the same rights.
- A declaration that the mandatory order compelling all markets in Anambra State to open from Monday to Saturday, or for traders to leave the state, breaches rights to freedom from forced labour, human dignity, personal liberty, privacy, peaceful assembly, and economic development.
- A declaration that the enforcement of the shutdown by police operatives violates rights to assembly, association, freedom of movement, and economic development.
- A declaration that any continued shutdown of the market as a sanction for observing the sit-at-home amounts to a violation of fundamental rights.
- A declaration that observing a lawful sit-at-home is an exercise of the traders’ fundamental right to peaceful protest and lawful expression.
- An order of injunction mandating the governor and Attorney General to rescind the shutdown order and restraining the Commissioner of Police, Inspector General of Police, their officers, agents, servants, privies or any person acting through them from further enforcing the closure.
Obasi also sought general and exemplary damages of ₦2 billion against Governor Soludo for engaging the police to enforce what he described as an unlawful act violating traders’ fundamental rights. He demanded an additional ₦50 million in damages against the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, the Inspector General of Police, and their officers for the same alleged unlawful enforcement.
In his written address, Obasi cited several judicial precedents emphasising that general damages may be awarded for violations of fundamental rights, particularly where state actions cause economic loss, psychological trauma, and disruption of lawful livelihoods. He argued that the traders’ voluntary sit-at-home was a legitimate form of protest protected by law and that government coercion to override it infringed on constitutional guarantees.
The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge or fixed for hearing. However, it has already generated significant interest among traders’ associations, civil society groups, and legal practitioners in Anambra State and the broader Southeast region, where Monday sit-at-home orders have persisted despite official condemnation and enforcement efforts.
Governor Soludo has not yet responded to the suit through official channels. The Anambra State Government and the Nigeria Police Force have also remained silent on the matter as of the time of filing this report.
The case highlights the ongoing tension between state authority and citizens’ rights to peaceful protest in parts of Nigeria where security concerns and separatist agitations have led to repeated disruptions of economic activity.
