As the security situation in the Niger Delta degenerates, foreigners in the region now go in groups to avoid being kidnapped by the daring militants.
Findings by our correspondent in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the weekend, showed that most foreigners prefer to go for their shopping in clusters.
They have also stopped going out in private cars either in the day or in the night, as was the practice before the spate of kidnap heightened.
No fewer than 60 foreign oil workers were sighted at a popular shopping mall being operated by Indians, on Saturday afternoon, buying stocks in bulk.
They bought a large quantity of provisions that took the shop attendants over two hours to calculate their prices and also package the items.
The development raised eyebrows and forced some others who were waiting to be attended to by the cashiers, to complain.
One of the foreigners, who came with his wife and children, said the bulk purchase would last his family for at least two months before they could return to the shop.
They were chaffeaur-driven in an air-conditioned bus provided by their company. Another bus with no fewer than 20 riot policemen followed them while a mini-bus with five armed security men escorted them.
On Sunday, another shop near the Peoples Democratic Party on Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, witnessed a crowd of foreign oil workers who came with a truckload of riot policemen to make bulk purchase.
The shopping was at a time most other Nigerians were in church.
The new development is coming in the wake of a directive by the state police command to landlords in the state not to accommodate any foreigner without the knowledge of the command.
The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, who issued the warning in Port Harcourt on Sunday, said that the action was to prevent the kidnapping of the foreigners by militants.
The commissioner said, �Members of the public are hereby strongly advised to desist from accommodating foreigners without informing the police. The measure is to ensure that the militants do not use them for a ransom.
�In other words if any landlord must give accommodation to them, the police must first be informed.�
The directive followed Friday�s abduction of five Chinese by armed militants in the outskirts of Port Harcourt.
The five are yet to be found.
Source: The Punch