Residents of Port Harcourt, have raised alarm over the rise in the number of mentally challenged persons and destitutes in parts of the metropolis.
Some respondents who spoke to The Tide on the development expressed fears that if no drastic measures were taken by the state government, Port Harcourt metropolis would soon be overwhelmed by mad people and destitutes.
A food vendor at the Mile 3 market, Mrs. Faustinah Eke, who spoke to The Tide on the situation, expressed surprise that despite efforts by the state government to curtail the spate of insane people in the state, Port Harcourt is still littered with mad people.
She further said :“They are everywhere, go to Rumuola roundabout by Port Harcourt Water Board and imagine how mad people and destitutes turn themselves into traffic wardens to support in the control of the heavy traffic during rush hours.
“If you move upto Artillery, Oil Mill and Eleme Junction, you will meet another set of mad people mostly women and young ladies who hardly move around unless they go to search for food and come back almost immediately. One thing with them is that they are not hostile and don’t hurt an ant. If you move toward Mile One Flyover axis from Oil Mill, these mad people are there in their large numbers. They seem to have turned the flyover bridge into their places of abode, resting endlessly.
“Some of them will go to sleep and never wake up for hours making one to believe that he or she may have gone to the world beyond as he or she never wakes up but always look stone dead.”
Chief Linus Okafor, a trader at the New Layout Market, also disclosed that many mad people also loiter around the market.

By: Bethel Toby