Commercial activities have returned to Calabar on the second day of the nationwide protest.

Businesses that remained closed on the first day of the protest were opened for customers as early as 9 a.m. on Friday.

The popular Marian Market was in full swing for normal businesses, while commercial motorists operated normally across the metropolis.

Also, fuel stations that shut their doors for business on Thursday had started dispensing products on Friday morning, though with long queues.

Cross River has been relatively peaceful since the beginning of the protest on Thursday.

The only semblance of protest was the deserted streets and businesses that were shut down on the first day of the protest.

Meanwhile, Sen. Williams Eteng commended the people for their peaceful conduct.

Mr Eteng, who represents Cross River Central Senatorial District, acknowledged Gov. Bassey Otu’s role in ensuring that the state remained safe and peaceful.

He attributed the state’s decision to stay out of the protest to the EndSARS experience, which the state had yet to recover from.

According to him, we have gone through a lot and what happened to us during the EndSARS protest is enough for us to learn from.

“The state is still suffering from the massive destruction of that protest. The scale of destruction of that protest touched both government and private individuals.

“We understand the pains the people are going through in the face of this current economic hardship but we should be wise to be patient so as not to further worsen things,” Mr Eteng said.

(NAN)