The hum lessened during the Yuletide. You could hardly hear the clang and jangle of the workmen’s metals or the sustained din of hagglers. Aba, the commercial headquarters of Abia State, lost much of its bustle. But now, it is ticking back to what the people used to know. Artisans, traders, commercial drivers and other residents who travelled out to their hometowns are returning and the Enyimba City is filling up again.
Some returnees, especially parents making purchases for their children and wards lamented that the economic crunch was still taking its toll on their finances.
One such parent, Mr. Frank Olewe, said, “I returned to Aba from Item on January 1 because one of my daughters’ school resumed on the 4th and her other siblings including those at the university will be resuming soon. So I am here to buy some of the things that they will need for the term. We thank God for granting us the grace into 2015, but the truth is that majority of the civil servants are finding it hard especially as some of us are yet to receive our salaries”.
Another parent, Gideon Offor who said he worked in a private firm, said, he was in the market to buy things for his kids before prices of goods and other commodities got out of reach of low income earners as was usually the case in January when most traders capitalise on the limited goods to exploit traders.
“Most companies from my experience usually take stock from December until sometime mid-January when they will start supplying goods in the market. So some of the traders who stocked products that are in demand will always hike their prices because from experience, it is usually like that in January and that is why I am here before the market gets crowded”.
A trader who sells textbooks at Ariaria International lamented low patronage blaming publishers for supplying books and other learning materials to schools that persuades parents to buy from the school instead of coming to the market to patronize them.
The situation was not the same at school road market where parents and people that sells school bags in commercial quantity were seen making choices of school bags for sell and their kids. Some of them who commented said school bags were part of the inevitable that children needs and can be affordable for parents of any class depending on the person’s choice and taste.
However, visit round some of the commercial park reveal that until the time of this report people are still coming back the hinterlands and other places where they spent their Christmas, a few of the commuters including Mrs. Ngozi Chika told our reporter that she was coming back from one of the northern states and would not be going until the 2015 election ends.
According to Chika, there is so much tension surrounding this election. My family (Children) came back December. My husband is no more and I can’t risk my life and that of my children staying in the north until this coming election passes by. Until the election ends and swearing-in of whoever that will emerge the president takes place, we are not going to go back. At least, we can talk about feeding for now and talk about how my children can continue with their studies later”, she said.
However, while the Christmas returnees were enjoying a relative peace and secured environment, the Aba Area Commander, ACP Peter Wagbara in a chat with The Nation attributed the peace recorded within his command during the festive period to the commitment of men and officers in his command towards achieving the instructions and directives of the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba and Abia State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim that police in Nigeria and Abia State should humble, loyal and dedicated to their duties.
According to Wagbara, “we also adopted a proactive operational strategy such as visibility policing; where police were seen in almost all the nooks and crannies of the city, because we believe that high visibility policing will scare hoodlums from taking the advantage that people left their homes for the hinterlands to come and loot their properties. Our men patrolled with their vehicle and on foot including stop and search points, all in a bid to ensure a crime free festive period.
“Adhering to the IGP’s and CP’s directives has helped in the reduction of crime and criminality drastically within the Aba and Abia Command. It might interest you to know that in this command (Aba Area Command) throughout the festive period and ass the moment that I am talking with you (Tuesday), we have not recorded any crime in the command.
“We have enjoyed a robust relationship with Aba residents which also yielded to the success we recorded during the festive period and to ensure that we maintain the standard, we are going to organise routine seminars and lectures for our officers and men to ensure that they didn’t drift from the attitudinal change.
“We are also collaborating with other security agencies in Aba, its environs and the state at large to ensure that we synergized to curb crime rate in Aba and its environs”.
He further appealed to the general public to provide the police with valuable information that would to the minimal reduction of crime rate in the commercial city that host a lot of business groups and economic activities on daily basis.
