Return of roadblocks in South East

While Nigerians are trying to cope with the devastating economic recession that has made their lives a miserable wreck, some government security agencies are vowing to add to the miseries confronting them.  These security outfits are no other than the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Army (NA). Like thieves in the night, they have surreptitiously been erecting roadblocks and thereby disrupting the free flow of goods and people, especially this Christmas season.  Incidentally, nowhere is this menace and disruptions to human and vehicular activities so pronounced as in the South East. According to reports, the police and army have in a brazen show of force turned the entire South East into a huge garrison with roadblocks dotting every inch and mile of the entire geopolitical zone. Unfortunately, the timing of this action has been affecting negatively on the economic and social activities of the people in the area who are bewildered at this inauspicious show of force. Surprisingly, such disruptions and discomfort are coming in the heels of warning from the Police High Command against mounting roadblocks on any of the country’s roads.
Just two months ago, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 6 Command, Mr. Abubakar Marafa, warned police officers against roadblock, saying that since the policy on roadblock has not changed, any officer found indulging in the violation of fundamental human rights would face sanctions. In spite of this warning, Nigerians are aghast that the authorities are looking the other way while their personnel are through their actions causing interminable traffic gridlocks and harassing road users, in the guise of security checks. Question is why the concentration of roadblocks in the South East. The reason is not far to find. For the Army, it is to check the activities of Pro-Biafra independence agitators, while the police ostensibly claim it is to check hoodlums and criminal activities.  Nevertheless, we know that far from helping to reduce crime, these roadblocks have become avenues for soliciting and actually extorting bribes sometimes at gunpoint from motorists and commuters.
It bears repeating that these roadblocks do not only constitute nuisance, they are making travelling a nightmarish experience. Before now, motorists enjoyed a brief period of respite, even as the highways became open spaces for normal vehicular activity and serenity. Sadly, the coming of roadblocks is threatening to cripple the joy of road travel and commercial activities, even as it exposes the seedy side of those manning them.
We call on the government to immediately dismantle these roadblocks. They are not serving any useful purpose. Rather, they constitute urban nuisance and have become avenue to corruptly enrich some uniformed personnel. The South East is not a war zone, even as people should not be subjected to indignities in the name of security checks.
Overtime, roadblocks have become regular scenes of bloodshed because fatal accidents occur when unsuspecting motorists are forced to stop abruptly. Most times, security agents have killed motorists and commuters for failing to stop or refusing to pay illegal levies imposed at these checkpoints. In addition, numerous innocent passengers have also died from stray and directly aimed gunfire in the process.
The indiscriminate mounting of roadblocks is capable of causing serious tension and apprehension among the populace. This is because the presence of such checkpoints means that there is some kind of trouble in the vicinity. While we are not against mounting roadblocks to meet specific intelligence reports, we believe that it should not be seen as punitive or an avenue to illegally enrich those that erected them. We believe that the roadblocks should go.