| COMMERCIAL banks in Aba, the economic capital of Abia State, yesterday shut their doors against customers to protest the state of insecurity in the town particularly the increasing wave of kidnapping and armed robbery. The warning strike, as they called it, continues today. They vowed to proceed on an indefinite strike should government fail to act fast on their demand. They decried the “unsafe and dangerous” environment in which they operate, saying they could no longer continue to risk their lives every minute of the day. The bankers, according to sources, were uncomfortable with the spate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the city and decided that unless something serious was done to rectify the situation, their offices would be under lock and key. The recent abduction of the wife of a bank manager in the town has not gone down well with them. Only recently, the Aba branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and civil societies raised the alarm over the spate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the town. They estimated that over 100 people had been kidnapped in the town in the last one year while millions of Naira was paid to secure their release. Speaking on the protest by the banks, the chairman of Aba NBA, Mr. Casmir Ebele, said the action had reinforced the position of the association on the problem. The lawyers in their last press briefing said they could not understand why kidnapping was on the increase when there were several police points, some jointly manned with soldiers, in the state. They accused the police of laxity in the discharge of their duties and called for an overhaul of the police in the state. The group also accused the state government of lacking the political will “to act and arrest those behind the spate of kidnapping.” Before then, traditional rulers from Bende zone had lamented the rate of kidnapping in the state, saying many Bende people had fallen victim and over N45 million spent ransom to secure their release. The traditional rulers, led by the Chairman of Bende Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze John Akaliro, protested to prominent traditional rulers in Ngwaland, saying they decided to protest to the Ngwa royal fathers because, according to them, all their people kidnapped were kidnapped in Ngwa land and that the ransom was paid in Ngwa land. Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has promised a N1 million reward to any person who offers useful information on the activities of kidnappers, and also read the riot act to traditional rulers and local government council chairmen, threatening to punish any of them in whose area kidnapping takes place. |
Nov72008