Port Harcourt metropolis, the Rivers State capital city is gradually being taken over by the presence of persons certified to be mentally deranged. This is with the rising number of this class of persons physically littering the major streets of the state capital city.
The disturbing scene the presence of this set of persons creates in the state is getting to an alarming rate as they have literally taken over the whole part of the capital city with nauseating abandon.
Our correspondent that has taken out time to monitor the increasing rise of the presence of this set of persons reports that their activities is getting to a disturbing level.
From Lagos Bus stop of Aggrey Road, to Creek road; from Aggrey road to Borokiri; from Abali Park to Garison and from Mile One/Education axis to Mile Three, the areas are the same – harvest of same ugly disconcerting scenes. The worst and most disturbing of it is their heavy presence along the length and breadth of Moscow Road, the seat of the government of the state.
That part of the state capital city is now the headquarters of deranged persons in the state. As at a cursory count, about twenty mad men and women have now taken their as their haven.
They openly defecate on the gutters (drainages), indiscriminate sleep on major/popular streets. go about naked, threaten innocent road users and passers-by, turn every part of the city to homes, pilling wastes and erecting cubicles – even in the heart of the city and most often try to control traffic with menacing abandon..
Some road users plying that axis of the city lament the disturbing presence of this set of persons in the middle of the heart of the state capital city.
A driver, Mr. Innocent Abboh, plying the Marine Base–Creek road axis of the city, lamented the disgusting activities of these persons with mental disabilities in the city, pointing out that they are becoming a serious menace to road users.
According to him, “These mad people can cross the road anytime hence the onus lies on the driver to apply sudden brake, even if that will have some deleterious effects to both the driver and his passengers”.
A resident in the city, Chief Nabrassa Igba blamed the government for the rise in the presence of this crop of persons in the city, noting that the government has failed in catering for that category of persons and insisting that the government is playing politics with attending to them.
“I must tell you that our government is not interested in the wellbeing of this catergory of persons. Among the responsibilities of any proactive government is the good of the aggregate person, no matter his or her mental state. These are sick persons who mostly are not the cause of their mental deterioration but bad government. There is psychiatric homes for this sets of persons, where they will be well catered for. What has happened to it is a question many have failed to ask. Another is that the department of social welfare which now has a commissioner in the state might not know that its primary responsibility also involves the welfare of persons with mental disabilities and not only those with fire incidents or boat mishaps.
“The work of this office is to rid the street of urchins and deranged persons in order to sanitize the city. Unfortunately, the government only came up just few months before last election to repatriate these persons from outside the state but never told us what their plans for the mad persons of Rivers origin are. This is very sad!” he stated.
Another resident, Mrs. Rebecca Anukwu express fear that if the presence and rise in the number of this set of persons is not checked, the state may be in for a very shocking experience. She pointed out that with the way criminal activities are evolving in the country, most mental disorder could be faked and used to perpetrate heinous crimes.
“It is very important to know that there is the likelihood that not all the mad persons we see on our street are really mad. Most of these persons could be criminal elements and ritualists, using the guise of faked madness to carry out their criminal activities. They have literally taken over our streets and refuse dump sites. I am afraid that we may have another Clifford Orji in our midst. The government must act fast before it gets out of hand. Already, some of these alleged mad persons have started raping women at night and this is really terrifying. The state government must act fast if we must nip this in the bud”, she stated.
