A detachment of policemen under the Abia State Command on Wednesday barred traders of Ariaria International Market and shoe makers at popular shoe plaza, including those at Powerline 1st and 2nd Gates from having access to their shops.
There were unconfirmed allegations that some traders that arrived their shops in the early hours of Wednesday were arrested by the police team.
It was gathered that human and vehicular movements were restricted to and fro Faulks road
Attempts by our correspondent to visit the area failed as a lot of motorists abandoned their vehicles and scampered for safety when some stern-looking police detachment sporadically into the air, blocking Brass Street by Aba-Owerri road which serves as a major entry and exit route into Faulks road.
Some traders wondered why the security personnel turned against them instead of launching manhunt of the perpetrators who had since left the scene.
On Tuesday, gunmen killed two policeman close to the market and made away with their rifles after burning the van they drove in.
Some shoppers in Ariaria were forced to turn back while others who came from a farther distance had to pay for accommodation with the hope that the situation would have been resolved by Friday when they planned leaving Aba for their destinations.
Abia Commissioner of Police CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie condemned the killing of two policemen in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state by yet-to-be identified gunmen on Tuesday evening at the popular SAMECK junction.
CP Onwuemelie in a statement by the Command’s Spokesman, ASP Maureen Chinaka informed a Police Constable and a Police Inspector were gunned down.