Miss Mercy Attah,
a 19-year-old orphan relocated from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital to Obidianso Street in Mile II Diobu, Port Harcourt, to occupy a one-room rented apartment where her father, Mr Joseph Attah, lived and died few months ago. The poor orphan, in search of survival, decided to engage herself on petty trading.
She woke up as early as 5.00am and was heading towards one of the bakeries to buy some bread for sale later in the morning. But as she walked a few poles away from her residence, three fierce-looking young men surrounded her. Two of the youngmen  were wielding shot guns and the third, a matchette. As poor Mercy made to run away from the armed robbers, she was caught. She struggled with them wailing and shouting, hoping that help would come from the neighbourhood, but none came and the thieves dispossessed her of her handset and N3,500 with which she planned to pay for the bread.
According to her, “the robbers were not in a hurry as they merely strolled away from the scene and moved towards the adjacent street”.
“My greatest surprise was that nobody in the neighbourhood showed any concern or interest in coming to my rescue. This could not have happened in Uyo where I lived and schooled for years”, said the poor orphan.
Miss Attah’s case is even better compared to some other experiences narrated by one of the sympathizers who came out after an hour. “There was even a recent incidence in the same area” said an elderly woman who sells ‘Akamu’ within the neighbourhood.
“Two young girls were also going to buy bread. These bread hawkers were held up by the rascal thieves two weeks ago. The robbers did not only snatch their money, but they also raped them and left them with their torn dresses,” said the elderly woman who pleaded anonymity apparently for her safety.
This ugly drama has become rampant in the densely populated Diobu axis of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Almost on daily basis, petty traders and ‘bush market’ women whose trades demand that they leave their homes early in the morning to enable they sell to their customers who need the bread for their families’ breakfast or the bush market women who must leave early to the hinterlands where they buy their stocks pass through this dangerous situations.
In the process of carrying out their petty trading business majority are dispossessed of their hard-earned money while the more unfortunate ones get raped by the street robbers who even inflict injuries on them.
The activities of these street robbers is fast scarring a lot of the traders.
“As a result of this, if you need to go to buy your bread or supply goods early morning to your customers in the Mile I or Mile III markets, you have to wait till say from six O’clock or much later, so also those who wake up early to go to the bush markets”, advised one of the petty traders.
This underscores the need for a return of the spirit of being one’s neighbours’ keeper. Men living in the streets can mobilize and come for the rescue of such victims especially when they hear them crying helplessly instead of feeling unconcerned.
The law enforcement agents, especially the police, could step up their patrol strategies especially early in the morning when such incidents normally take place.
Moreso, as the security agencies move to reduce the alleged high volume of arms in the wrong hands, it is recommendable that the law enforcement agencies could resort to house-to-house search especially in areas where these suspected youths reside, like Diobu.
A good number of the young boys and girls involved in petty trading may have got some level of education but owing to the high unemployment rate in the country, they have little or no option than to engage in petty trading for survival.
While the government initiate some empowerment programmes, petty trading should as well be encouraged since it is legitimate and one major way of encouraging them is by making the environment safe for their operations.
The consequence of not giving proper attention to the poor petty traders could mean forcing them into armed robbery, prostitution and other anti-social activities.
It is true that provision of employment opportunities for the youths could reduce armed robbery and its attendant consequences.  But experience has shown that while government cannot provide for all in the society, most of the youths that have chosen robbery are themselves not employable.
This dangerous trend demands more proactive measures from the law enforcement agents and the only way to succeed in this bid is to involve the people who live within and have good understanding of how the street robbers operate.
Flushing the street robbers would not only boost petty businesses but would make the environment more secured for the people especially as the nation prepares  for the forthcoming general elections where past experiences have shown that armed youths work against free and fair elections in the country.
Past experience has also shown that armed robbers hid their guns inside abandoned vehicles in the streets. Consequent upon this revelation, there is the need for the government to ensure that a lot of abandoned vehicles on the streets in Diobu be evacuated by their owners.

 
Chris Oluoh