Umuahia deserves to be safe haven

It has always been said that any society where there are no laws to regulate activities of man or his conduct with fellow man is headed for anarchy while the citizenry live at the mercy of hoodlums or law breakers.

The implications of having a lawless society are enormous as it instills fear in innocent members of the society while such misnomer is capitalised on by criminals and other societal miscreants to unleash mayhem in a porous society. It is against this backdrop, that the action recently taken by the Abia state government to shut down brothels and other criminal hideouts in Umuahia the State capital is a feat that would continue to receive accolades from Abians especially those who live in Umuahia metropolis.

Brothels in our contemporary society have been turned to places where miscreants congregate and perfect their criminal plans. Majority of crimes committed in our society today, are stage managed or planned in brothels where the master planners spend quality time denting the names of such brothels and their owners.

Bringing it down further, popular brothels located around Cameroon Street off Owerri Road, Orlu Street, Arochukwu streets in Umuahia among others, play host to criminal elements as well as prostitutes from different States in Nigeria who reside in these places and flood the streets of Umuahia at night especially along Isi gate axis. A visit to some of these brothels, one would see all kinds of faces, haggard looking and irresponsible displaying their trade.

The fact remains that if we must have a decent town and state devoid of criminality, harassment, robbery, drug dealing, rape of innocent citizens, car snatching that has become almost a daily occurrence in certain spots in Umuahia, government must beam their searchlight on Isi gate axis and other flashpoints. The area especially at night, plays host to different classes of people all in the name of business transaction while little or nothing is done by government to monitor all that transpire in the process business at Isi gate.

In as much as the harsh economic realities on ground is bitting harder and people are looking for means of livelihood, the government can make traders at Isi gate relevant and viable by finding a permanent place of business for them rather than constitute nuisance at Isi gate. Ensuing from the activities of these traders at night, Isi gate axis has been made a busy area for travellers and visitors to the state whose first point of contact is Isi gate before they can continue with their journey.

Some of them tell negative stories when they leave Abia state which paints the state black in the eyes of the world. For a saner Abia State, the state government must act swiftly to decongest Isi gate and other city centres seen as flashpoints where innocent residents and visitors are robbed of their valuables.

Abia State can be made a safe haven if the government can find a permanent solution to the congesting nature of Isi gate Umuahia, am not saying that people should be barred from doing business in Umuahia, government can make the businesses more viable by providing a more central area that will be less busy but strategic for businesses to thrive. Umuahia deserves to be like other decent towns in Nigeria and the time to achieve this feat is now.

 Izuchukwu Nwokoma is a Journalist and a Commentator on burning national issues.(E-mail: [email protected], phone number:08038207365).

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