Ikot Ekpene, a historic town of the south of the Niger Delta and the cradle of local government system in West Africa, is gradually losing her glory in recent times due to the nefarious activities of some lethal groups masked in cult garment, a situation believed to be triggered by some internal misunderstanding between or among rival fraternities. As the government security apparatus in the city became ridiculously ineffective in confronting the situation, which had assumed a more frightening dimension-stealing, looting and raping-forcing inhabitants of the area to close businesses before dusk, the local authority decided to place a six-to-six curfew in the raffia city in order to incapacitate the unholy effort of the boys believed to be politicians' agents.
The security measure first started by restraining motor cyclists in the town from carrying more that one passenger at a time. But as this failed to arrest the situation, the authority adopted the six-to-six curfew still making motorbikes its prime target.
For the last couple of weeks, it is clear that the business volume in the town has fallen and some investors are already making steps for relocation to business-friendly places within or outside the state. What then, is the fate of business in Ikot Ekpene? Who can boldly come and invest in a city ravaged by cult activities and other criminal activities, and a place where the government security has lost its trust.
What is most worrisome and utterly disturbing is that the police which is being used to enforce this order is even worse than the so-called cult boys or they could be comrades-in-crime. The police don't even wait for 6 pm to click before they start mounting road blocks and extorting money from innocent cyclists. If you are arrested by the police in the town, even a few minutes to 6 pm, you must pay not less than N6500 before you can get your motorbike back.But when the so-called cult boys were in full armour and were operating in full power, where were the police? The police take this as another source of livelihood; each road block makes not less N150, 000.00 per evening. Is it not safer to live under which we intend to destroy than living under the most trusted arm of government armed-robbers?