Abia still under robbers, kidnappers siege!   
Written by ANAYO OKOLI     
Sunday, 12 April 2009 

*[b]The hard drugs connection

THE security situation in Abia State is indeed grim. The two main cities of the state, Umuahia, the state capital, and Aba, the commercial centre, are now centres for criminal activities. For instance, violent crimes are daily occurrence.

Umuahia witnesses violent crimes equally but not in the magnitude of Aba. Rampant in the state are crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery, baby trafficking and car snatching. Incidentally, the state hosts the headquarters of Zone 9 of Nigeria Police and naturally it is expected to be a low state.

Apart from Aba and Umuahia, rural areas like Ikwuano, Umunneochi, Isiala Ngwa North and South, as well as Ugwunagbo witness high level of crime. In fact, a good number of the robbery and other criminal activities, especially cases of kidnapping usually reported at the state police headquarters, are recorded in the rural areas, particularly Isiala Ngwa and Ugwunagbo.

In addition to the rising crime in the state, the touts working for Umuahia North Council who harass people with indiscriminate arrest and extortion constitute another threat to security in the capital city. Encouraged by the council authorities, these men at times set up motorists by directing them to park at a particular place only to immediately do a u-turn to say that the motorists have parked at an unauthorized place and extort as much as N5,000 from their victims. This act goes unchecked.

Security situation
The security situation in the state, especially in Aba, is causing the residents sleepless nights. Banks and other major businesses in the commercial city operate daily unsure of what will happen. Banks in the state had some time last year closed shops for some days in protest against the high level of kidnapping and armed robbery. Before then, professionals in the commercial city led by lawyers had complained and even gave the government ultimatum to improve the security situation in the state.

They claimed that 11 of their members had fallen victims of kidnapping and that the environment was no longer safe to do business. In fact, the lawyers caused the national leadership of NBA, their umbrella organisation,  to visit  Aba and Umuahia to complain about the insecurity in the state. The president of NBA led the protest and also met government officials.

Though the government was not happy with the action of the banks and lawyers, fence was later mended with some of the banks donating patrol vans to the security agencies to secure  the state. But not much has changed, especially in the area of armed robbery in Aba.

Today in the commercial town, banks move bulk money by helicopter as bullion vans have become easy targets of the hoodlums. In last few months, no less than five cases of bullion van attack were recorded in the state and, in each of them, lives, including those of policemen, were lost.  Helicopters now carrying banks money now land  at the central police station in the city from where they now go to their various offices.

Just last Tuesday, two mobile policemen and a vigilante operative were killed in an early morning operation in Ogbor Hill area of Aba. This is one of the many attacks the people suffer virtually on daily basis. Besides, incidences of car snatching are also a common feature. The state does not in any way lack the presence of policemen as they are seen every where, especially on the Umuahia-Aba-Port Harcourt highway at reasonable distances.

So, at times, it becomes a big puzzle that, in spite of their presence, criminals still always have their way easily. Though the incidence of kidnapping has gone down from what it used to be in the past, some cases were reported last week.

There was report of a foreigner who works for a construction company in the state and a case of a nine-year old girl also kidnapped. Details were not available as police said they were still investigating the cases. Last week, in Abuja, the statistics of kidnapping in the country indicated that of a total of about 500 cases of kidnapping were recorded within a period, Abia topped with over 100 cases.

Governor Orji employed all manners of approach to fight kidnapping in the state. He instituted a reward system whereby people who volunteered useful information on the activities of kidnappers were given a reward of N1 million.

He also charged[/b] traditional rulers to be vigilant and expose kidnappers in their domains as they could not claim not to know what goes on there. Orji, in fact, threatened to dethrone any traditional ruler in whose domain kidnapping was carried out. Orji also got the state House of Assembly to make a law making kidnapping a capital offence. This some how paid off as the incidence of kidnapping recorded a reduction.

But while kidnapping reduced, that of car snatching witnessed a dramatic increase. The state police commissioner, Mr. Edgar Tam Nanakumo, confessed to this. In a recent press briefing in his office, Nanakumo said that it seemed that hoodlums had shifted from kidnapping to car snatching and vowed to confront it else it would consume the state. A number of suspects had been arrested and paraded by the state police command, both robbery and suspected kidnappers. What has happened to them is not known  but the point remains that crime, especially robbery, is still on the high side in the state, especially in Aba.

In Aba also, there is an area, York, allegedly notorious for drug business. This place is very open and both police and NDLEA are said to know the place yet the place is believed to still thrives and breeds hardened criminals. In broad day light young men and women are allegedly seen openly displaying drugs of all types without anybody challenging them. As long as they are left to operate, observers say  it is unlikely that crime in the commercial city would go down as that serves as a breeding and relaxing ground for criminals.

The police commissioner has always said that the police in the state are on top of the security situation. The police may be making effort; definitely their effort is not enough. Even the the inclusion of soldiers in the police patrol teams has not made much difference. Some of the teams, especially those deployed in the old Umuahia-Aba Road, spend more time extorting money from motorists than checking passengers of the vehicles. 
http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/33352/126/

:-x

personal democratic party(pdp) is doing their best to take over every state of nigeria.

;d