Traders want increased security at carnival village

Traders at the Calabar Carnival Village have called on security agencies in Cross River to urgently deploy more personnel to the area to ensure protection of lives and property.

The traders made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Calabar Botanical Garden, venue of this year’s carnival on Sunday.

The traders said that the number of security agents at the venue currently was not adequate, considering the nature of the area.

Mrs Elizabeth Owana, a restaurant operator, said the environment was scarring, especially at night.

"I get scared in the night and most of my customers have refused to come to patronise me; they are afraid of losing their phones or other belongings to miscreants,” she said.

Mr Brown Dike, a trader from Aba in Abia, said he was not comfortable with the security arrangement in the village.

Dike said the whole arena was so dark in the night because of the trees and added that the situation was driving people away from the carnival venue.

"This is my first time of coming to this garden and the place is cool but I am afraid about the safety of my goods.

"I have heard people around also complaining that they could not come to the village in the evening to have fun because of fear, ‘’ he said.

Mr Awatt Dickson, whose wife sells food and drinks in the village, described the surroundings of the garden as very dangerous and added that it required a better security arrangement.

"Look at the area behind the garden; it looks like a den of criminals. The authorities concerned need to lighten up the area and also beef up the security.

“If not, we may not enjoy this year’s business as we used to do,” he said.

NAN reports that except for the personal generators of the traders, there iss no security light in the village.

Reacting, Mr Kenneth Aklah, Special Adviser to the Governor on Event Management, said the problem was being tackled.

"The problem really was the challenge posed by lack of light which has been tackled; human security is adequate as all security services are there.

“However, expect a change very soon,” he said.