Notorious York:The Uncommon Zone In Aba

Residents of Aba,the Enyimba city,together with regular visitors to Aba are likely to be very aware of the notorious 'York Street' popular known as 'York,'located in the heart of Aba Main Park.

Aba is a very populous commercial city in Abia State.It is the native land of the famous Ngwa people,who form a large percentage of the inhabitants.Despite being heavily occupied by Ngwa people,it also houses people of different tribes.People from Igbo-speaking states(Anambra,Imo,Enugu and Ebonyi)are also in the city in search of greener pastures.Yorubas and hausas are not left out.Almost people from every tribe in the country are found in Aba,in search of white-collar jobs.

Aba is comprised of different local government areas which include Aba North,Aba South,Obingwa and Osisioma.Other LGAs may be in Aba.

York is a very short street of few metres located just within Aba main park.It connects the famous Aba-Owerri road to Park road.At one end of the street is a new generation bank(spring bank) and at the other end are Aba Recreational Centre and a very large building called Roger Wright House.At one side of the street are shops for buying and selling of different commodities.At the other corner are kiosks and restaurants.York is actually a bee-hive of activities.

An interesting thing about York is that it houses some good-for-nothing people that are obviously present every time,constituting nuisance to the environment.They are touts or let me say,hooligans,who have nothing reasonable to do for themselves or the society.You can hardly differentiate them from real madmen at first sight.

They engage in drug-peddling,hawking all kinds of hard drugs ranging from weed or cannabis to cocaine and the likes..They carry their commodities along the street,ever calling for the attention of passersby for patronage.Some empty stores located along the street as used as potential stores by these men and women.

Nobody can gainsay that that deadly zone also serves as a hiding place for men of the underworld.You may not be surprised to notice that York contains a mini-arsenal for harboring arms.York is a place where many evil deeds are perpetrated.We once heard that a pregnant woman was raped to death by those species of human beings.What a high level of insanity!

Ladies are not left out of the show.Some of them,always on tattered clothes are also actively involved in whatever goes on there.The unsuspecting ladies seen to be the wolves in sheep's clothings and are never implicated because people will always see them as weaker vessels.They have the ability to hide their contraband goods in special locations in their bodies,making it almost impossible for intruders to fish them out.

The people found in York are not only involved in hawking those drugs,they also form part of the consumers.They are so addicted to those drugs to the extent that they can hardly live a single minute without sniffing them.They are specialized in taking those drugs and have the special ability to even capture any minute smoke that eventually tries to escape into the air.

York has a characteristic bad odour,oozing from the drug users who are conspicuously positioned at every corner.This makes passersby to innocently partake in the abuse.

York usually draws the attention of patrolling men in uniform as atrocities are always commited there.Just as bakassi boys often come around to pick people,policemen do the same thing.

The good thing about York is that along it,at number one(1) York street is located a church-Illumination Ministries.The minister incharge,Pastor Peter Ugorji was the man of God that preached on the fateful day I got born-again.That was on 7th August,2004 at Life-Gate Triumphant Church along Umule road.Despite the presence of such a church,York occupants have blatantly refused to turn a new leaf.

York is a deadly zone per se.It demands the care and rapt attention of passersby that move to and fro across the street.It is a pity that such a place is located within a main park,giving drivers quick access to those hard drugs and at the same time endangering the lives of their passengers.

I am of the opinion that the government of Abia State should rise and move in quickly in a bid to checking the ugly activities taking place in York.