Three years after destruction of government and private owned properties worth multiple millions of naira during #EndSARS protests, relics of the crisis may still be seen in Calabar, the Cross River Capital.
During the protest against police high-handedness, government’s operational vehicles and ambulances were destroyed, while office premises and paraphernalia, such as computers, furniture, air-conditioning systems, public address systems etc were vandalised and looted.
The Guardian learnt that three years on, only about 50 per cent of property destroyed have been rehabilitated and are functioning.
It was learnt that two affected local councils, Bakkasi and Akpabuyo, are still operating from Calabar Municipal Council.
When The Guardian visited Akpabuyo, one of the security men, simply identified as Felix, said: “Nobody is here. The office of the Head of Local Government Administration is in Calabar. As you can see, work is ongoing; we are trying to fix what is remaining after the #EndSARS protest that led hoodlums to destroy the council.”
But a resident, Otong Otong, said life is gradually returning to communities and that children have returned to schools. He said, however, in some parts of the local government, especially Ikot Nakanda, where the council is, activities are still crawling.
Otong noted: “During the protest, we all know what happened. Young lads were looking for an opportunity to do away with peoples’ belonging but life is gradually returning to normal. The fear of molestation by militants has reduced drastically. With the new administration, the military does not joke when it catches or suspects boys terrorising the area. So, I can say that things are moving on gradually. Children are going to school.”
He added: “But in Ikot Nakanda, where you have the council, activities are yet to kick off completely. But I think some repairs are going on, as we speak. I passed that way to Ikang a few days ago, and I noticed the building is gradually wearing a new look.”
But a document made available to The Guardian by Public Relation Officer of the Cross River Basin Authority, Jackson John, revealed that nearly 100 per cent of repairs have been done.
Also, the Commissioner for Information, Erasmus Ekpang, said the state government is gradually putting in place all that was lost during the protest.
According to him, barely eight months into the administration of Governor Bassey Otu, some of the basic infrastructure affected by the protest have been fixed and more are still undergoing repairs.
