Police, Correctional Service reopen blocked roads in Umuahia
One lane of the Bende road in Umuahia, Abia State, which was closed by men of the Nigeria Police Force for two years has been reopened.
The road, which runs through two major Police facilities, Abia State Police Command headquarters in Umuahia and Central Police Station, had one of its lanes closed by police officers, since June 2021.
The measure came into effect following the attack on some Police offices in Abia State, including the burning of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) by unknown gunmen on Sunday, May 29, 2021.
A trip through Bende road this week showed that the road blocks have been dismantled, thereby paving the way for free and smooth movement of vehicles.
However, Police officers are still patrolling the road to ensure security in and around the police facilities.
Some transporters who ply the Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu road and some of their passengers welcomed the development, saying it would save them some valuable time when on transit.
Commercial transporters who spoke to Newsmen on Monday, including Ibe Kalu a Keke rider, and Savior Eme Mba, taxi driver complained that they were allegedly made to drop money at a checkpoint near the police headquarters by officers that manned the road during the two years period the road block existed.
They credited the new Commissioner of Police in Abia, Mr Ken Onwuemelie for the new development, thanking him for the decision.
The drivers also advised Abia residents to maintain peace to avoid anything that may lead to the closure of the road again.
Also, shop owners said their businesses were affected during the two years period when one of the lanes were closed to traffic.
One of the shop owners, who simply identified herself as Ngozi, said some of her customers who owned cars always found it hard navigating the one lane to patronize her.
She commended the new Commissioner of Police, Me Ken Onwuemelie for reopening the blocked lane.
Newsmen recalls that the new Commissioner of Police, Mr Ken Onwuemelie had reiterated his advice to officers and men of the Command to operate in accordance with professional standards of the Force, adding that human rights abuse would not be condoned under his watch.
Similarly, Nigerian Correctional Service has reopened the left lane of the major road in front of Umuahia custodial centre.
The road was closed on Thursday, October 22, 2020, after a failed attempt by some hoodlums to carry out a jail break in the facility.
A powerful checkpoint was mounted in front of the facility by NCS personnel and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, which shares a fence with the NCS.
Vehicles coming from Ubakala or Isi gate sections of the capital city were previously made to use only one lane under a tight security watch.
But the road block has now been dismantled by the joint team, allowing free flow of traffic, while security personnel maintained security checks on vehicles and their occupants.
It would be recalled that the ‘Prison’ facility was in October 2022, rocked by gunshots fired at the Correctional Centre by bandits who tried a prison break.
But a strong defence by the Correctional Service personnel and support from various security agencies in Abia helped in repelling the attack, which made the hoodlums to flee.
