Curfew: Residents of Port Harcourt groan over chaotic traffic jams, shut down of night life

Curfew: Residents of Port Harcourt groan over chaotic traffic jams, shut down of night life

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 11:55 pm


Traffic gridlock as people rush home to beat the curfew in Port Harcourt

Traffic gridlock as people rush home to beat the curfew in Port Harcourt

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Residents of Port Harcourt, the Rivers Capital, and its environs are groaning as the extension of curfew hours imposed across the state to curb killing of security operatives kicked off.
The new curfew hours of 7p.m. to 6a.m. imposed on Rivers by Governor Nyesom Wike in response to the recent killings of security operatives by unknown gunmen took effect yesterday, Tuesday May 11.
As observed by TheNEWS, because of the curfew, social and economic activities started grinding to a halt as early as 4 pm as residents round off their activities to rush home before the 7 pm curfew time.
Our correspondent, however, observed that the rush to go home resulted in chaotic traffic jams which kept many residents of the oil city in town beyond the curfew time on Tuesday.
The gridlocks across the city were worsened by blockages of roads, and diversions at intersections within the city due to the ongoing construction of overhead bridges on the Port Harcourt/Expressway and Ikwerre roads.
Our correspondent who witnessed the gridlocks on Tuesday at Eastern by-pass, Ada George road, Ikwerre road, Chief G.U.Ake road among others also noted that the traffic jams were compounded  by blockades of roads in front of Police Stations done as precautionary measures against attacks by gunmen who have been targeting security formations and killing operatives.
Traffic gridlock as people rush home to beat the curfew in Port Harcourt

Traffic gridlock as people rush home to beat the curfew in Port Harcourt

Top among those complaining about the curfew were business owners in the city. Many of them complained that since the new curfew time was announced by Governor Wike two days ago, they had been very uncomfortable and jittery because of the adverse effects it will have on their businesses.
It was also observed that owners of businesses like bars and restaurants whose businesses thrive at night are very uncomfortable and angry because their means of livelihood will be affected by the curfew.
Uchendu  Ihunwo, an owner of a flourishing Restaurant and Bar located along SARS road in Rukpokwu, Obio-Akpor local government area lamented that throughout last year his business was grounded because of COVID-19.
“I run barbecue stands in my Bar. Our business picks up from 7pm onward and now  Governor slammed curfew to start by 7 o’clock in the night, we are in trouble. We have not recovered from the Covid-19 lock-down that stopped our businesses and now this”.
“All over Nigeria, bars and restaurants and hospitality businesses thrive mainly at night times. We entertain plenty customers at night because by the time must of them close from their places of work they come to relax and be entertained. I am begging them to shift the curfew back to 10 p.m.”
A roadside seller of roasted plantain, popularly called “Boule” at Rumuokoro roundabout expressed pain that her business will be ruined if the curfew remains.
“Many of my customers could not stop to buy and eat Boule as they were rushing home to beat the curfew time. The very few who bought insisted on takeaways.”
However, many residents and business owners fully complied with the curfew order by shutting down by 7p.m. Businesses such as supermarkets, barbing salons, betting shops, fastfood shops, canteens, drinking bars, foodstuff sellers, POS services, hair dressing salons, pharmacies and so on shut down their operations in compliance with the curfew order.
Governor Wike had on Monday extended curfew he imposed on the state from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., with effect from Tuesday, in order to stem dastardly attacks on security formations in the State.
He said the decision has been taken in the wake of multiple armed ambush on police checkpoints along the East-West road which resulted in the cold-blooded murder of 7 Police officers over the weekend.
He said the State security council have reviewed the way and manner the recent attacks were executed and discovered that the perpetrators, who disguised themselves as security officers, moved in unhindered from Oyigbo to launch the attack.
According to Wike,“As a step towards enhancing our collective safety, we have reviewed the existing night time curfew across the 23 Local Government Areas, which will now start from 7 p.m. and end at 6 a.m. until further notice from Tuesday,May 11,2021″.
Ends
Video caption:
Below is a video clip of one chaotic traffic jams on the day one of Curfew yesterday, Tuesday May 11

Join The Conversation

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.