Answer:
They did not seem to even hear the cries for help.
Step-by-step explanation:
Chinua Achebe's Civil Peace tells the short story of how a man named Jonathan Iwegbu kept his composure even after thieves had taken his hard-earned money. He went back to his old ways of life, earning his way as if nothing has happened.
Jonathan had saved money that he earned from turning in rebel money. But when the thieves came that night to rob them off it, he and his family cried at the top of their voices for help. Their cries of "Police-o! Thieves-o! Neighbors-o! Police-o! We are lost! We are dead! Neighbors, are you asleep? Wake up! Police-o!" seemed to fall on deaf ears. None of the villagers came to their rescue nor do they even try to.
For this, we can say that the neighbors did not come forward to help because they too were also afraid of the men. This may be due to the fact that since the nation has been under Civil unrest, everyone seems to be afraid of everyone, especially robbers/ thieves who seem to have power and control over a large group of followers. Even the thieves themselves called upon the neighbors, but like the leader said, "we don try our best for call dem but I tink say dem all done sleep-o". This seems to show that no one actually bothers to get involved with others' business, especially when it's about money.