Hardship Protest Grounds Markets, Banks, Others in Abia
Residents of the two major cities in Abia state, Umuahia, the state capital, and Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, stayed away from their shops and business premises on Thursday, August 1, following the uncertainty of the planned nationwide hunger protest.
The governor of the state, Alex Otti had in a state broadcast on Wednesday appealed to residents of the state not to join the protest as there were fears that some unscrupulous persons may want to take advantage of the protest to cause a breach of peace in the state.
Recall that The Nation had reported that the State Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) had summoned heads of various broadcast and print media outfits in the state including the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in the state to her office, where she was quoted to say that the agency had intelligence that non-state actors were planning to infiltrate and hijack the protest.
Heads of other security agencies in the state including the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had assured residents of their safety in their various statements ahead of the protest.
People who left Umuahia for Aba early hours of the day paid as much as ₦2,000 for transport fares against the usual ₦1,200 for coaster buses and ₦1,400 for Sienna.
Black market petrol dealers taking advantage of the protest sold Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) for ₦1,000 per liter.
Few Point of Sale (POS) also took advantage of the closure of banks to charge exorbitantly.
It was observed that residents of the state didn’t participate in the protest, most of them however stayed indoors.
Major markets in Aba including Ariaria, Ahia Ohuru, Cemetery, and among others which recorded a huge presence of shoppers and visitors had their gates shut.
Commercial banks, fast food centers, major inter and intra-city transport companies, Petrol stations, and other business centres in the state also didn’t open for business activities, leaving their customers to resort to the available alternatives.
Some parts of Aba revealed that no policeman was seen on the road within the city center.
According to our correspondent, a detachment of military personnel was sighted at Bata junction as one of the lanes of the popular Aba-Owerri road leading to the army outpost at Bata junction was cordoned off.
Another batch of military personnel where sighted in another part of Aba carrying out a Show Of Force operation.
Until the time of filing the report, the state has remained peaceful with people moving about their businesses without any form of harassment.
SOURCE: The Nation
