By Maria Famakinwa

Residents of the Akure metropolis are no longer at ease as some lunatics have turned some spots in the metropolis to a make shift residences and they pile up refuse  at such spots thereby creating eyesore on the beautiful sceneries.

For a while, a lunatic woman gathered debris on the road in front of “A” Division, police station until she was chased away .

The increasing number of mad people littering streets in the state capital calls for  concern. Hardly will a week end without seeing new faces of mad people roaming the capital city.

A walk through the popular Oba-Adesida road to Arakale, NEPA, Ijoka, Oke-Aro among other areas revealed the obvious.

In the case of the mad woman who has constituted nuisance  at  A-Division,  she  even cook  at the popular round about where she gathered heaps of rubbish.

The stench oozing out of the place could better be imagined. The mentally deranged woman was most times seen singing, dancing and communicating to imaginary people in her world, before she was forcefully evacuated to an unknown location by law enforcement agents.

Some homeless people numbering about three had also put up tent behind the car park opposite the A-Division giving passers by unrest as mentally derailed people are known to be temperamental.

Ondo State is not the only states experiencing influx of mad people as investigation revealed that other states including Abuja, the seat of power are facing the menace.  Despite Ondo State government efforts at ridding the state of mentally derailed people, it seems there is still more to be done as most bus-stops have been taken over by mad people.

The fear of Akure residents  who spoke with The Hope was that some of these people who appear as mentally derailed in the daytime might be disguising in order to perpetrate evil at night given recent happenings.

A fashion designer who lives around A-Division  Mrs Falilat Akanbi, while commenting on the mad woman who almost took over the popular roundabout said that the mad woman had been constituting nuisance in the area before she was chased away. “The funniest part of it is that another mad woman was also living very close to her. Even,  Adegbemile bus stop is gradually becoming a haven for lunatics. Some residents are insinuating that they are only disguising as mad people during the day only to carry out their evil plans at night.

About two weeks ago, one of the mentally derailed men, was seen talking harshly with stick in his hand as people scampered for safety. I am very sure that this man will be dangerous because he always move about with a stick. The other day, when he was coming, a passenger just alighted from a cab and saw the mad man coming towards her direction,  while the woman was running to prevent the mad man from getting to her,  N500 fell from her hand and the mad man picked it and kept in his pocket while he  threw the paper he was holding away. This means that he could differentiate between money and paper despite claiming to be mad.

“Though, the State government has been making efforts to rid the state of mentally derailed people, but much still need to be done. I will further appeal to Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to come up with strategies where some of these mentally derailed people who roam about the streets can be properly checked to lay to rest the rumours that some of them are kidnappers.

Another mad man was sighted at Champion bus stop along Oyemekun road. He was smoking and shouting intermittently to attract passersby. His weird look, made people to keep reasonable distance.

One of the okada riders around the area who was also watching the mad man from afar as he displayed his lunacy, Falola in a chat said: “Everyone try to keep safe distance from the mad man. Most times, he roam about begging for money to buy cigarette and sachet gin. Whenever he begs for alms, he speaks normally,  but after smoking, his lunacy take over. He will shout and look so scary. Just like the way you met him now.”

Asked if he was the only one occupying the place, Falola said: “At night some other mad people converge with him  at the bus stop, but you know that they cannot be monitored because their world is unstable. Besides, I go home once it is 9pm and I don’t know what happens after,” he said.

Sharing a similar view, a businessman, who did not want his name in print, revealed that some of the mad people roaming the street were brought from another states and dumped at night in Akure.

He said: “large  percentage of mad people in Akure are brought from other states and dumped at midnight here. Don’t you wonder why mad people keep increasing in the State on a daily basis? They always bring them in their numbers and dump by the road side at midnight, from where they later find their ways into the towns and city. If not for this, no mad person should be seen today roaming about the streets of Akure because there was a time the government sent out task force who picked every mad person sighted.

“The job was thoroughly done that the capital city was free of lunatics. One was surprised to see new faces of mad people again. Where are they from? Just watch out, you will see that in the next few weeks, another set of mad people will emerge from no where again”.

On why  people are bringing lunatics from another state, he said that he could not speak for them but revealed that it might not be unconnected to the fact that they want to protect their names and integrity. “If a member of a well known family in a state, town or village  is mentally derailed and every step to reverse it proved abortive, they might decide to dump such in another State to prevent the stigma and embarrassment such can bring to the family. Don’t be surprised that some of these mad people roaming about are from well known families. If men of Amotekun in collaboration with other security agencies can be more vigilant at midnight, I am very sure that soon, people transporting lunatics from other States and dumping them in Akure will be  apprehend.