She always seen sitting in isolation in the sprawling Ibom plaza, a popular sit – out and relaxation spot overlooking the Wellington Bassey Way leading to the Hilltop Mansion, Government House, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
The young lady in her early 40s, identified as Eno, from the nearby Abak local government area, is always seen occasionally sauntering out to stretch out her hands – “please, give me whatever you have, let me buy food, am hungry.”
She’s been in the complex for years, making the place her home since, according to her, “I used to stay with my aunty since I came to Uyo, but one day, she drove me out of her house after being pregnant, and with no other place to go, I moved to this plaza.”
At the plaza, depression set in as she started indulging in drugs, abusing mostly Indian hemp with little cash given as handout and other food freebies by vendors.
“Don’t use my money to buy smoking substance,” an alm -giver would warn before handing out tokens in N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, depending on their pockets, especially during her pregnant state.
“Who impregnated you?”, a bystander would ask indifferently, to which she would respond; “I don’t know.”
And two weeks ago, the arena was thrown into ecstasy with news that she delivered a bouncing baby girl, all alone within the plaza vicinity.
“We came for our businesses this morning to see Eno with a very beautiful and bouncing baby girl, which she said she dlivered the previous night,” Aniema Akpan, an emergency passport photographer explained.
However, investigation by our Correspondent revealed the lady has again disappeared with the about three weeks- old baby, with pub owners and petty traders within the plaza suspecting a repeat of what she did with the first child a couple of years ago.
“When she put to birth within the plaza few years back, the baby disappeared after some weeks and we suspected perhaps the administration under the former governor Udom Emmanuel, had retrieved the baby for proper care.
“But it was discovered she has link with human trafficking syndicate who would pose as caregivers, lured her to their hideout, where the baby and the mother would be weaned for some months before retrieving the baby, settled the mother before discharging her to return to the plaza to continue her nefarious trade.
“Am sure now that she has disappeared again, the baby would not be with her when she returns, Affiong Bassey, a pup operator at the plaza, noted.
“Why we didn’t suspect that she might have sold the previous baby to fund and sustain her life of drugs was that the government then did not tolerate destitutes and mentally- deranged persons on the streets and public places because the administration viewed such ugly sights as antithetical to the much- vaunted tourism potentials that abound in the state.
“And moreso because the state had won the cleanest and safest capital for more than three times.
“That was the major reason the then governor’s wife, Martha Udom Emmanuel, launched a rescue operation to “arrest and isolate the mentally – ill people from drugs. The office of the then First Lady had embarked on campaigns to rid the streets of lunatics and destitutes because they constituted an eyesore to investors, visitors and tourists”, Ettefia Bassey, a tourism enthusiast recalled.
Obong Victor Attah, the inaugural governor at the return of democracy in 1999, had built the complex fitted with amphitheater and viewing centre for football enthusiasts to watch local and international matches.
But LEADERSHIP checks revealed that the arena has turned to an abode where urchins, drug peddlers, couriers and consumers co – habit with normal people carrying on with their legitimate businesses – from liquor, foods, fabrics, shoes, second hand clothes to other ornamental wares.
However, in the recent times, sources close to the state government disclosed that former governor Attah, was not happy with the disdainful atmosphere pervading the Ibom plaza, and had promptly drew governor Umo Eno’s attention that his original concept and master plan of the arena has been distorted by hoodlums.
Consequently, the governor was said to have given express instruction to the Chairman of the Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA), Hon. Anietie Eka, to “sanitise the Ibom plaza and its environs for a total face – lift.”
Armed with the order, the UCCDA officials in collaboration with security operatives had since concluded work on clearing the miscreants and other criminal elements, “but no action on the side of government to return the place to its original vision of Obong Attah, as a central relaxation spot in the heart of town for decent people,” notes Chief Essang Ekanem, a retired civil servant.
The governor, whose business was in hotels and hospitality industry before the call to serve in politics, our Correspondent recalled, had visited the plaza, where he doled out N2 million for supporters and tenders of the arena early this year with a promise to contract out the job of renovating the arena.
But a member of the management team of the plaza, said “we are still waiting because legitimate traders who were displaced by the task force are still stranded waiting for the place to be rebuild as promised by the governor.”
Meanwhile, the drugs trade and consumption continue with reckless abandon as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Commander in the state, Obot Bassey, noted:
“In Akwa Ibom alone, the rate of drug abuse is very high. No where I have been to, that I have seen the number of mentally challenged people that I can compare to what I have seen in Akwa Ibom.”
Bassey lamented that young adults take cocktail of Indian hemp, adding the marijuana and alcohol mixture contributed largely to cases of people with mental health challenges.
“If you go to social gatherings in Akwa Ibom, hardly will you not see young adult taking combine and you know that their genetics make up are different, which lead many of them to mentally health challenges,” she said.
