Christmas: South Easterners defy insecurity fears, troop home for holidays

This is because many Igbo resident outside the region are returning home to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones and participate in the Yuletide festivities.

Several burial ceremonies, traditional marriages, weddings and other social engagements have been lined up across many communities in the region.  Traffic situation at the Niger Bridge Head which serves as gateway to the East from the West has been hellish.

The situation is not different for those returning from the north, just as the airports in Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Asaba and Anambra have been brimming with human traffic, as thousands arrive in the South-East states each day.

Not minding the temporary opening of the Second Niger Bridge to cars and small vehicles, more volume of heavy-duty vehicles and others have been using the old bridge, causing serious traffic.

Some travellers who spoke to Saturday Sun attributed the situation to the never- say-die spirit of the Igbo. Mathew Okeke said any Igbo man who has any serious engagement in his village must find a way to reach home despite any manmade difficulties.

He said: “During the war period, the Igbo were locked out of communication with other parts of Nigeria, but they still engaged in various businesses to survive. It is virtually the same scenario now. Transport fare is on 300 per cent increase, there is the fear of gunmen in the communities while movement is stalled by so many manmade impediments. But we are here spending several hours in traffic yet still determined to reach our village and partake in several activities. We shall survive any situation and even make out something good out of a bad situation,” he quipped.

In Anambra, many communities have stepped up security in their localities, while the state government also made spirited efforts to secure the state against criminals.

In fact, Governor Chukwuma Soludo has told Ndị Anambra and other residents of the state to make merry, insisting that the government was doing the needful.

Press Secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime said the government had identified hot spots of criminality in the state and was putting extensive measures in place to decimate them.

“Some of the proactive and counter measures already put in place include the use of strategic checkpoints, constant patrols and rapid response teams to cover various routes in the state, all manned by a combined team of Anambra State Vigilantes and conventional security agencies,” he stated, adding that 2,000 gallant men and women were recently recruited into the vigilante service.

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has said that every effort will be made to ensure residents of the state and holiday makers had a memorable Yuletide. He was optimistic that some watertight security measures being adopted would yield tangible results.Saturday Sun was told that emphasis was being placed on intelligence gathering just as the communities have been enjoined to be part of their homeland security.A police source said the police were working with other security agencies including the Neighborhood Watch and Forest Guards for adequate security this season.

But the common trend in Enugu and Imo States is that people seem to be trooping into the metropolis more than they are travelling to the villages. Our finding was that people from communities with security situations would rather stay in the state capitals.

In the last five days, people have been arriving in Enugu from other parts of the country, especially, Abuja, Lagos and states in the north. As at Thursday, roads in Enugu and Owerri witnessed heavy traffic following unprecedented influx of vehicles into the two cities. Hotels were already being oversubscribed.  It was gathered that some of the people who came into Enugu to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays are not from the state but decided to stay in the city due to the peace and safety there.

But for Collins Ede who said he hails from Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani, nothing will stop Ndigbo from returning to their homes during Christmas and New Year.

Ede who returned from Jos, Plateau State, with his family said: “You can see us, we are just returning from Jos, and we don’t miss it every year. No matter the level of insecurity in our community, we must go home to the village; we will not run away from our home. Igbo are not cowards.”

In Imo, people are at home in Owerri due to the adequate security provided by Governor Hope Uzodimma, working in synergy with the security agencies in the state.

However, troubled areas like Orsu, Orlu and Oguta are witnessing low number of returnees while Izombe, Orsu Ihite, Umuna, Awoma-mma, Ihite-Ukwa are almost no-go areas. As a matter of fact, residents had fled these places even before the Yuletide because of security challenges.

A native of Orlu who simply gave her name as Cynthia said her parents left their village a long time after they were threatened by gunmen.

“My father is the President General of my community but he has not been feeling comfortable staying at home. He resides in the town and hardly goes home just like my mother. Most houses in my village have been burnt by the gunmen,” she said.

For Abia, people are trooping home in their numbers. As at Monday, December 19, motor parks in Umuahia as at 7am, were already bubbling with passengers, majority of who were either travelling to other South-East states or communities within the state.

Visits to some of the motor parks at Isi-Gate, Umuahia on December 22, confirmed that the parks witnessed increased activities, with many more people entering the state. The situation was even chaotic in Aba as people were seen nearly stranded in the parks, coupled with gridlocks in the commercial city.

Transporters are making brisky business as a journey from Umuahia to Ohafia which used to be N1,200, is now N2,000.

Those who spoke to our correspondent in Abia said they would not because of the fear of insecurity, abandon their villages this Christmas. They, however, said they were going to put up some measures to ensure no harm befell them during the period.

A traveller to Ohafia, Kalu Ume, said: “This is one year I have not been to my village and I cannot miss the opportunity this period has provided, fear of insecurity cannot stop me from going home to see my people. Instead, when I get to the village, we will look for a way to secure the place so that people can be free to move about.”

The situation was not different in Ebonyi State where human and vehicular movement to the hinterland upped by the day.

A transporter, Edwin Nwuzor, told Saturday Sun at Romchi Park, Abakaliki that it was difficult for them to meet the demand. “We have enough passengers; what we need are the buses to service them. I carry passengers from Abakaliki to Ohaozara. Many passengers are there waiting for us.”

-the sun