In Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, the situation is becoming one day one trouble. In the city, bad tales are everywhere and people are living in fear: The fear of kidnappers and armed robbers. Also, there is the fear of the vigilance group in the city, the Bakassi Boys, which is now the terror in the city.Governor OrjiIndeed, in Aba, the fear of Bakassi Boys is now the beginning of wisdom.People are arrested by supposed operatives of the vigilance group, tortured and even killed. People who are going home in the night are at the risk of being killed. And dead bodies now litter the streets.sources gathered that Bakassi Boys, who claim to be ridding the city of criminals, are on the prowl again. Like in the time past, when Bakassi Boys terrorized Abia, to the extent that the police high command took action against the group, terror has returned. Criminals are being killed by Bakassi Boys as well as innocent people.One commercial driver painted the picture of what is going on in Aba. He said that the bodies of victims of Bakassi Boys assaulted the sensibilities of residents.He said: “Last week, we came to work to see the bodies of two young men whose throats were slashed like goats and their bodies dumped near the road at York Street. We later heard that the boys were caught by Bakassi Boys smoking Indian hemp and killed. They were killed in the most cruel and barbaric way. Their throats were slit as goats and their bodies dumped in the street.”Indeed, some residents say they can no longer differentiate between the real and fake Bakassi Boys as well as other killers. These days, people are abducted in broad day light by men who claim to be Bakassi Boys only to be found the following day stone dead in a street corner. Others are also snatched by criminals.Recently, in the Ogbor Hill area of Aba, a child was abducted from a church, during service, by unknown persons and the little boy’s body was found two days later with all his vital organs gone.Residents told sources that people are now using Bakassi Boys to settle scores. It was gathered that when people have squabbles, they invite operatives of the group. Also, people now use the vigilance group operatives to collect debts, wherein the debtor is arrested, tortured and stands the risk of being killed.However, there is also the fear of kidnappers and sundry criminals in Aba. It is common, in Aba, for kidnappers to abduct their victims in the day and at night and thereafter demand ransom. In the city, kidnapping is big business. The big time kidnappers go after rich and influential people and draw huge ransom. The small or local kidnappers go for children of their neighbours and demand ransom as little as N10,000.The police in Abia State police, with all their efforts, seem to be scratching the back of the problem. Bakassi Boys and criminals do not fear the police. They operate freely without resistance. In the last couple of days, the police suffered several casualties in the hands of unknown killers in Aba.The Abia State Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mrs. Florence Dan Archibong, brought a new angle to the menace. She said that the use of drugs had led to upsurge in violent crimes, such as armed robbery and kidnapping.“Cocaine and heroin have become common drugs of abuse with arrests and seizure recorded everywhere in and outside the metropolis. New drug joints are springing up, where criminal activities are planned, perfected and executed. Some streets in Aba, such as York and Park roads have become a no-go area for decent law abiding residents of Aba, as unscrupulous miscreants have turned them into ghettos and haven for hard drugs,” she said.Mrs. Archibong said that criminals take these drugs in whatever form only to go out and unleash terror on innocent people.Incidentally, this is not what it used to be in Aba. In the time past, Aba and its residents were known for courage. Then residents of Aba would rise up in unison to end anything they consider bad. It was the days of men of valour.Now, times have changed. Fear now rules the commercial city and its residents. Gone are the days when men walk the streets of Aba, with safety in mind. Gone are the days when men leave their homes and tell their families to expect them. Insecurity has taken over the town, to the extent that anyone who goes out and comes back safely offers special prayers to God.In Aba, gun shots boom day and night. It’s either that dare-devils are striking or that security agents and vigilance groups are responding. Whichever one it is, there are always casualties. Dead bodies litter the streets and nobody explains what happens.This life of fear was not there in Aba until 2000. Decades ago, Aba was a place of fun. It was a city where people enjoyed themselves. Then Aba residents followed fashion, they wore clothes that were in vogue and attended disco parties. Such hotels as Ambassador and Unicoco, among many others, hosted live bands, which played till dawn and fun seekers paraded the streets in the night without fear. In these hotels, The Apostle, Sweet Breeze, Cloud 7, The Wings, entertained people.
At that time, Aba never tolerated crimes and evil. Criminals got instant justice. And the mob did not forgive.Today, things have changed. Aba is now the centre of crimes. Residents have been cowed by criminals that nobody dares say anything about an obvious wrong. Indeed, the fear that has enveloped Aba residents is like a thick darkness and it makes men and women jittery. It is the type of fear that made shoe makers of Aba to form a vigilance group called Bakassi Boys, to flush out those who were molesting their customers, especially those from neighbouring West African countries. It is the type of fear that made Onitsha people of the 1970s to rise up in an operation tagged boys oye, which enabled them to flush out bad eggs among them.
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