By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
Some residents of Port Harcourt have complained of harassment by some policemen believed to be enforcing the ongoing curfew in Rivers State.
Governor Nyesom Wike had imposed the curfew following recent attacks on policemen in the state by unknown gunmen. The initial curfew time had been 10 p.m.–6 a.m before the governor reduced it to 7 p.m–6a.m. after the attacks on policemen at Elimgbu, Obio/Akpor LGA and Rumuji, Emohua LGA.
But speaking to TPCN yesterday, some residents claimed that some policemen are now hiding under the pretext of curfew enforcement to harass and intimidate people.
Narrating his own experience, a young man who said he lives in Choba, told TPCN: “Yesterday, on Friday evening, I was returning from Mile 1 where my shop is. I sell second hand clothes. As soon as it was 5:30, I started packing my clothes and by the time I finished and carried my clothes inside, it was after 6. There was no Choba bus, so I started trekking. But before I got to Mile 1 police station, I saw one bus going to Iwofe and I entered, hoping that the bus will stop me at Pepperoni.
“When we got to Chinda, because of the hold-up in front, the driver diverted left and said he would pass through St. John. So, some of us still going to Choba, Ozuoba, Location, all came down and entered Ada George again. We saw policemen blocking the right lane, immediately after the Carpenter’s Church. Everybody was passing through the other lane and they were shouting and barking at people, telling us to raise our hands up.
“I was wondering if there was war. Even as we raised our hands up and walking fast, they were still barking at us to run, just a few steps to their checkpoint. Do you know that when we got there, they knelt us down. They said we didn’t run fast. We begged and begged and begged them before they allowed us to stand up and go, even with our hands raised up.
“They made us look like common criminals. But that is not what the governor asked them to do. I don’t know why they like to intimidate people.”
Another resident, a female, complained that the police used tear gas to harass people in some places.
She said: “That first day was terrible. They were spraying tear gas at Mile 3. And in Mile 4, around Kala, they were arresting people. And that day, there was not enough buses because they were afraid. Many people were trekking. Some didn’t even get to their houses; they had to hang around with friends and relatives just to avoid police. I was going to Rumuokoro but when I saw what was happening, I decided to sleep in my sister’s house in Mile 4. We’ve suffered a lot since this curfew began.”
TPCN gathered that at Ozuoba, some motorists were arrested and their cars seized and packed at Ozuoba police station but were allowed to come and carry their cars the next day free of charge.
Meanwhile, the relaxation of the curfew in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor by Governor Nyesom Wike is generating applause from residents.
According to them, the relaxation of the curfew would ease the suffering of residents of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt.
