Stan Okenwa — If the recent figures given by the immediate past President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCIMA), Mr. Billy Harry are anything to go by, it then means that commercial activities have peaked in Rivers State again, after a long period of urban terrorism caused by militancy.

In a chat with the Port Harcourt based industrialist, he revealed that statistics has shown that "more than 300 companies which closed shop during the crisis in the Niger Delta According to Harry, "the good news now is that while some were fleeing, others were coming to invest in the state, especially the French companies".

"They came to the chambers and we guided them. I do know that before I handed over on November 18, this year, more than 300 companies that left, have come back", he revealed, adding that the affected companies were registered members of the chambers and had returned to clean their offices and resume business.

Some of the sectors that are recording massive return of operators according to him include maritime businesses, service companies, night clubs, importers, traders and hospitality industry operators.

Harry also maintained further that more foreign companies have indicated interest to return to the region since the successful conclusion of Amnesty scheme in the region.

It would be recalled that prior to the scheme, major cities in the region inclkuding Port Harcourt and Warri were hot beds for mega business outfits as street urchins and militants who were hiding under the guise of fighting against marginalisation of the people and region by the apex government to unleashed terror without borders.