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Anambra State Government has made good its threat to slash salaries of workers who failed to show up for work on Mondays due to the sit-at-home ordered by separatist elements in the South-East.
The state government had in January announced that it would begin a pro-rata payment system, with deductions from salaries of civil servants who failed to come to work on Mondays.
The Eastern Updates reports that many Anambra civil servants on Tuesday lamented huge deductions from their February salaries after they received bank alerts of their wages.
At Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka, the state capital, some workers lamented that the deductions did not tally with the number of Mondays they failed to show up for work.
One of the workers, who pleaded anonymity, said a colleague in his office only received N100 as payment for February, after deductions.
The worker, who is a staff of the Ministry of Information, lamented that out of his over N80,000 salary, he received just N3,500.
He said: “One of my colleagues said that she received her salary with N10,000 cut off from it. The cuts are irregular, but I think there were mistakes in the computing because some people who missed work only once or twice had huge deductions from their salaries.”
When contacted, the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, confirmed to journalists that the deductions were punishment for failure to come to work on Mondays.
He said: “The salary cut is a punishment for failure to come to work on Mondays. The instruction was that when you come to work on Mondays, you clock in, and, at the close of work, you clock out. That is to show that you came to work.
“But, if you came to work on Mondays but you didn’t clock in, and, didn’t clock out, it means that you didn’t come to work because there is no evidence to show that you came to work.”
The Anambra State Government has shut the Nnewi Auto Spare Parts Market at Nkwo Nnewi for one week after traders failed to open for business despite official directives suspending the Monday sit at home observance across the state.
The closure order was issued on Monday during an inspection of the market by the governor’s Special Adviser on Trade and Markets, Evarist Uba, accompanied by the Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, Special Adviser on Security, retired Air Vice Marshal Ben Chiobi, and the chairman of Nnewi Local Government Area, Echezona Anazodo.
Uba said the action was taken on behalf of Governor Chukwuma Soludo following what authorities described as repeated non compliance by traders.
According to him, the market will remain closed until March 2, after which the government will review the level of adherence to the directive ending the weekly shutdown.
Read also: Soludo Shuts Nnewi Auto Market Over Sit-at-Home Defiance
He explained that despite prior warnings, security assurances and appeals by the government to restore regular economic activity, many shop owners kept their stalls locked on Monday.
Authorities advised both traders and customers to stay away from the premises during the closure period to avoid confrontation with enforcement personnel.
“The Anambra State Government hereby informs the general public that the New Auto Spare Parts Association Market, Nkwo Nnewi, is closed for business,” Uba said, adding that further sanctions could follow if compliance does not improve once the market reopens.
The Monday shutdown practice, commonly referred to as sit at home, has affected commercial activities across parts of the South East in recent years. State officials say the policy is aimed at restoring normal movement and reducing economic losses linked to weekly business interruptions.
Government representatives stated that public activities in many areas of Anambra have gradually resumed on Mondays since the directive was issued in late January.
Authorities say the closure is intended to reinforce that the order applies across all commercial centres.
The measure mirrors a similar action taken in January when the state government temporarily closed the Onitsha Main Market after traders also failed to open their shops. Officials said that step was part of a broader effort to reclaim public spaces and ensure markets operate throughout the week. Local officials maintain that security agencies have increased patrols and protection for traders to encourage confidence and discourage intimidation. They argue that uninterrupted trading is necessary for small businesses, transport operators and daily wage earners whose income depends on regular market activity.
The state government indicated it will reassess compliance after the one week period. Enforcement teams are expected to monitor trading conditions when the market is scheduled to reopen, and further measures may be considered if the directive is not followed.
