Press Release III, October 2, 2023

THE CRIMINAL DEN IN TRANS-AMADI/SLAUGHTER, SECURITY THREATS, AND PROPOSED MITIGATION MEASURES

The increase in criminal activities around the Trans-Amadi/Slaughter area of Port Harcourt, which has metamorphosed into a criminal den, posing threats to law-abiding citizens who are molested, maimed, wounded, and killed in the process of stealing their belongings since the demolition of the slaughter market in August 2021, is not something that the Nigeria Police, through their stations around the area, can pretend not to be aware of except they’re aiding and abetting the acts, which I pretend is not the case as they’re there to protect lives and properties.

The Rivers State Government and the Chief Security Officer of the State, His Excellency Sir Siminalayi Fubara, cannot also pretend that he is not getting security reports from that area every day and knowing what is happening for him to take actions to mitigate the criminal activities that are also consuming lives around the area.

I wish to progress by buttressing through a brief about what also happened today, October 2, in the same area while not pre-empting the investigation into the killing of YEAC-Nigeria’s financial management consultant, external and risk-based auditor, Barine Lenee, Ph.D., ICAN, ACA, in the same area on Saturday, September 30, and his lifeless body recovered on Sunday, October 1, with only his phone missing.

Today, one of the boys terrorizing the Trans-Amadi/Slaughter area of Port Harcourt, stealing and killing people in the area, was caught and beaten to death this morning of October 2.

An eyewitness and member of the Advocacy Centre’s youth volunteers network told the Executive Director, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, in a telephone conversation this afternoon that the criminal was caught stealing and given instant jungle justice, then left half dead on the foot of the bridge leading from slaughter to the YKC area, where he eventually died.

He further said he witnessed the incident while arriving at the market and that he expected that the corpse of the alleged criminal would be taken away before night falls by the police that later arrived at the scene after the incident.

It would be recalled that since the destruction and demolition of the slaughter market, with only the mosque still standing and fenced around, as well as the chasing away of all the traders by former Governor Wike, the security situation around the slaughter, the zoo, and its environs has been worse, as those chased away have refused to stay away from the area.

The traders have also turned the entire environment into makeshift markets, with associated sanitation crises.

People are attacked with guns and matchets around the slaughter area, even in broad daylight, almost on a daily basis. Those familiar with the area would tell you that you dare not pass there by evening and lose guard even while in a car, as your phone, handbag, and other belongings would be snatched.

Your car also dares not breakdown around there at evil hours. People are pointed guns at in broad daylight and dispose of their belongings, while those who resist are killed. I have passed through the slaughter area and seen corpses and lifeless bodies there countless times.

A few months ago, one of the prominent lawyers in the state, Adubabari Mankie, narrowly escaped being killed at the Trans-Amadi/Slaughter area when he was pointed a gun at in broad daylight and got his life saved by quickly relinquishing his belongings to the criminals operating freely in the area under the eyes of the police.

The sale and consumption of drugs is the new nickname of the area, with the police and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) also pretending not to know and failing to raid the area to make arrests.

The degenerating security around the area is due to the fact that most of those who were displaced from the main slaughter market have refused to leave the area but squeezed themselves into a small space just after the bridge while crossing to the YKC area with the displaced boys, most of them non-Rivers indigene left out of the mix and now terrorizing the area.

For effective security of lives and properties of innocent citizens and unsuspecting members of the public going about their lawful businesses around the area at all times and especially by evenings and nights, YEAC-Nigeria recommends the following short-term, medium-term, and long-term measures to be taken to immediately address the security concerns around the Trans-Amadi slaughter areas of Port Harcourt.

They are;

  1. The Rivers State Government and Zoo management/authority should ban all forms of trading activities in front of the Zoo, fence it around with demarcated wires, and put inscriptions like “NO STOPPING, NO PARKING, NO WAITING, KEEP MOVING” around it;
  2. The remnants of the slaughter market around that area should be totally banned by the Rivers State Government and relocated to the Mgboshimini area, where the government said it was building a modern abattoir for those displaced from the demolished slaughter market.
  3. The Rivers State Government should immediately impose and enforce a ban on all trading activities around the Trans Amadi/Slaughter area from 6PM to 6AM; the same measure should be extended to the Eleme Junction flyover area, which is another den of criminal activities by night.
  4. The operation of tricycles around the Trans-Amadi/slaughter areas, from RIVOC junction to YKC and from the Divisional Police Station at the Oginigba area to the JDP/Odili road roundabout by the Gulf Estate, should be banned immediately as they use them for robbery and criminal activities in the area and easily escape arrest.
  5. The Rivers State government should ensure that solar street lights are constantly on and functional around the area at night to improve security and police visibility in the area.
  6. The Rivers State Government and Nigeria Police should immediately collaborate and establish a police mobile station at the tail of the Slaughter-YKC Bridge, by the Zoo fence, to improve security in that area.
  7. The Rivers State Government should provide motorcycles for the police in addition to vans that should be stationed and manned around the slaughter roundabout to ease their fast movement to chase criminals for improved security.
  8. The Rivers State Government should procure and provide security shocking torchlights for the police for deployment and use when the need arises, especially while chasing criminals with the provided motorcycles, to destabilize them from a distance and have them stop and be arrested in fighting crime around the area and other parts of the city and state, etc.
  1. The Rivers State Government should put the land reclaimed from the traders and already fenced around into use with facilities built on it to strengthen security in the areas;

It is our belief at YEAC-Nigeria as a development partner promoting human rights, social development, and working to mitigate organized crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, and the Gulf of Guinea that if these crime mitigation measures are adopted, implemented, and periodically reviewed, they would help to address the nagging security issues in Rivers State, especially around the Trans-Amadi/Slaughter areas that have metamorphosed into a criminal den with daily threats to the security of lives and properties and innocent lives lost in the area.

Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface,

Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria,

02-10-2023.