Ancient days
If there is anything the current Abia State Government and or property owners especially top businessmen in Enyimba city of Aba should be thinking of doing better henceforth it is supporting and helping to equip the Nigeria Police Force, Aba Area Command. As unbelievable as that may sound, facts on the ground show that if this is not done, sooner than later when roads are going to be opened up, as the new government has started showing signs of that, the city will be overrun by criminals without adequate pro-active or reactive intervention from the police.
Let nobody get it twisted, this research is not in any way questioning the ability of the current police leadership in the state and Aba, in particular, to handle massive hustling and bustling by both law-abiding and criminal elements soon but meant to draw serious to attention to the fact that the Aba Area Command despite the current sound leadership and professionalism introduced by ACP Abubakar Jaki still lacks everything, especially on logistics to tackle crime adequately.
Facts and figures
There are facts and factual security records that show that for the past seven to eight years, there was no report of bank robberies in Aba and if there was any, it was probably during the rise of #EndSARS and insecurity that threatened the South-East.
Many people gave kudos to Security Chiefs in the state back then, as well as praised the former government, but a thorough look into the position of banks in Aba and the possibility of a robbery taking place and the robbers moving out of the bank successfully shows that the bad roads were actually the main point of security and not just a planned structure or well- equipped police.
Most banks in Aba are located around the Aba-Owerri-Road, Factory Road, Asa Road, Eziukwu Road, Faulks Road, Ngwa Road, and Port Harcourt Road with a few around Ikot-Ekpene Road in Ogbor-Hill. On a serious note, looking at the road networks in Aba and their “motorability”, it will take a miracle for any gang of robbers to steal money and escape through Eziukwu Road that is completely cut off in two ends along Cemetery and Port Harcourt roads.
And even if they choose Factory Road to head towards Osisioma, everybody knows they cannot go through the Ngwa High School because of the obvious military base there and with that alone, nobody will dare near Eziukwu because there is no way out.
Other affected cities
It is a similar case in Port Har- court Road, as Uratta and other adjoining rooms like Ozuomba, Uratta, Crystal Park and Obohia are not trekkable not to talk of being motorable. We have similar is Obohia, and Akpu Road down to Ovom or Emelogu via Aba-Azumini-Opobo Road linking it is not a route at all.
In Faulks Road, where is the escape route? Old Express Road is not a road anymore. Omuma is gone, navigating to Ariaria Junction is not a journey anybody will try and even if you succeed, where are you heading to that is motorable? Umule Road, Umuocham and Umuihelegbu Roads will lead to nowhere because of their current states.
Samek Road will bring the escapee to MCC Junction and after that where to? Do they turn to Umuojima to the main Express after the whole struggle? There are so many bottlenecks that people should take time to study before boasting that Aba is highly secure.
This is exactly why the major robberies that have been taking place in Aba has been that of neighborhood intra-street robberies done with tricycles, where POS operators and a few traders are targeted by some criminals within their own neighbourhood who escape with tricycles, where residents are afraid of informing the police about their hideouts.
Residents are bitter
Today, residents are seeing signs that the works will be reconstructed and probably new routes opened. As everybody thinks of having traffic-free-flowing Aba, has anybody bothered to consider the readiness of the police to handle the situation? Will everybody watch Aba return to the era when criminals exposed the lack of readiness of our security in terms of logistics? Without mincing words, it is embarrassing to see vehicles from the Aba Area Command on the roads these days.
The majority of the police vans in Aba are better suited for carrying vegetables from rural areas to some semi-urban centres for sale. Are those the kind of vehicles police will use to secure a city sitting on billions of dollars in investments? The massive developing city of Aba is currently under policed with a few police divisions like Ohuru-Isimmiri Division, Ogbor-Hill Division, Eziama Division, Uratta Division, Ndiegoro Division, World- Bank Division, Central Police Station and Eastern Ngwa Division, but when added with poor equipment, zero presence of technology and rickety vehicles, then there nothing working.
Police angle
The Police Divisions under the Aba Area Command meant to protect one of Nigeria’s topmost commercial cities suffer from a lack of operational vehicles, even when there is a vehicle, most times it is unsuitable for the local terrain (bad roads), adequate manpower, insufficient communication equipment, especially in their communication room (Base-2) and adequate accommodation for officers.
On Wednesday last week, Governor Alex Otti, held a closed-door meeting with heads of some of the security agencies in the state and in attendance at the special security meeting chaired by the governor were the Abia State Commissioner of Police, CP Kene Onwuemelie and Brig.-Gen. NJ Edet, Com- mander 14 Brigade, Ohafia.
Others that attended were Corps Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), CC Paul Igwebuike; Captain SK Ogogo, Commandant Nigerian Navy College of Administration and Finance, Owerrinta; Mr Friday A. Onuche, State Director of DSS and Navy Commander Mac Donald Uba (rtd), Special Adviser to the Governor on Security.
Nobody knows the outcome of the meeting, but one expected that issues concerning the security situation in the state should be the main agenda. However, it is high time the new government took some vital information from the security chiefs, and make moves to see things as they are. Every person in government in Abia State, especially the new governor who seems to have shown serious interest in Aba needs to walk into the Aba Area Command and see what they have as the biggest security house in the city.
Logistics
At the Area Command alone, there are over seven vehicles dumped and in very bad shape without any attention. This has led to police hiring vehicles for operations and even individuals making moves to get vehicles whenever they need the attention of the police.
Too many police officers are risking their lives to do their job in Aba. Imagine arresting a notorious criminal in his den and the vehicle you came with refused to start? It may sound silly, but these are facts New Telegraph has gathered.
Can you imagine the public reaction to a situation where police officers are chasing a gang of criminals with sophisticated weapons and sound vehicles, suddenly the criminals cannot be found while the police vehicle is crawling behind. The Abia State Government must as a matter of urgency change the narrative very fast, because police could not patrol or penetrate areas like Uratta, Obohia, Ohanku, Over-Rail, Omuma, Amammogho and deeper parts of Ogbor-Hill that allowed cultists to take over those areas today, making residents regret stepping their feet there.
Let nobody get it twisted, the Aba Area Command has the right leadership considering the changes we have seen so far in behaviour and system but lacks the equipment and resources they need to fight against crime. Without the proper equipment and resources at their disposal, nobody should expect the Aba Area Command to perform at an optimal level when the roads start opening.
Different notions
Anybody who is observant in Aba will equally notice that another bigger issue within the police is the manpower situation. In most police stations under Aba Area Command, one will notice the presence of more female police officers than male. For instance, if the strength of a Division is 111, one is likely going to see 54 male officers and 57 female officers which by all standards is grossly inadequate to police the division.
A security expert, Onyeka Asika said: “Before, their problem is leadership because some people that occupied the positions of Area Commander back then were unserious with all due respect to them, but not they have a sound young officer leading the Command, but he’s going to have problems with logistics. “Aside from logistics, I think they are not seriously equipped in terms of manpower.
The lack of operational vehicles is something I don’t understand. What have the Governors been doing with their security votes? Why can’t they support the police? Giving 20 vehicles to police in Abia State with 17 local governments is embarrassing considering what is needed only in Aba and Umuahia.
Way forward
“Despite the nature of our roads, people are investing here and what security measures are we putting in place for such investments? I call on our people, business groups, companies, market unions and all good-spirited individuals in Aba to help us and secure this city. Whether we like it or not, we can’t do without the police.”
