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Travellers pay security operatives for passage
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We’re not aware, say police
Ibrahim Abdul’ Aziz (Regional Correspondent)
For now, the police and other security operatives in uniform and plainclothes has been accused of profiteering from the lockdown put to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Some residents in Yola,Zing, Numan, Jalingo,Wukari and other major towns said that rather than enforce the restriction, the operatives, including military and immigration personnel, were helping themselves to pecuniary gains.
The border closure in Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe States might not achieve the intended desire as police and immigration officers along the major highways turned the exercise to a moneymaking venture.
At the checkpoints in Zing, Lafiya, Jalingo, and Wukari, motorists were allowed free passage after parting with between N200 and N1000.
Though police spokesman in Adamawa DSP Suleiman Nguroje , however, maintained that the officers “are supposed to enforce. Anybody who does that (extort) does so at his or her peril.
‘’They will be dealt with. Though we want people to comply, we are not really interested in arresting. The issue of arrest, now, doesn’t really matter so much because of COVID-19. We are even decongesting the police station now. We want people to obey and comply so that this pandemic will stop spreading.”
In Jalingo, Taraba State, one driver, David Baba, said: “The security men at various roadblocks collect N100 before they allow you to proceed. If you resist, they would charge you for not observing social distancing. They will also threaten to take you to their station.”
But Police Public Relations Officer David Misal told local media that: “I have not heard such information; I am receiving such from you for the first time.”
It was observed that some motorists could still move passengers from Adamawa to Taraba State, or from Gombe to Adamawa despite the inter-state restriction to movement.
Taraba, which shares borders with Adamawa, and the Benue States, had earlier barred motorists from conveying passengers in and out of the state, exempting only persons on essential duties.
To beat the roadblocks mounted by security agents, commercial vehicle operators would drop passengers at the borders and then transfer them into vehicles on the other side, or give money to the security officials to turn a blind eye.
“It is easy. I will drop you either at Zing’s border or Jerreng and hand you over to a driver going to Yola. That one is not a problem at all,” the driver said. Asked how he would beat the checkpoints manned by soldiers and other security men, the driver replied: “Leave that to me. We know them and they know us. What I owe you is to ensure that you get to your destination in peace. Just go inside and pay.” He told this reporter.
Taraba State police spokesman, David Misal , could not be reached for reactions as at the time of filing this report.
Driving a blue-colored Lexus Jeep at Ngurore, on his way from Benue State to Yola, Adamawa state capital, one Mr. Lazarus said: “I hit the road when my friend gave me a hint that with cash in hand, I could make it. It turned out to be true. From Utokpu , I spent close to N5,000 settling the ‘men in khaki’. They have really been nice all through.”
Another motorist, who gave his name as Baba, at the Lafiya-Lamurde a border town refused to say how much he parted with but admitted: “Nothing goes for nothing. These people have just made my day, as I have to dash to see my children and sick mum in Ganye.”
One respondent who pleaded anonymity said: “This is surely a naira rain for the security operatives including vigilantes. In every situation, you should trust our people. What I do not understand is the brashness with which they ask for the money.”
Police spokesperson, Nguroje , said the command was probing allegations of extortion against officers deployed to ensure compliance with the movement restriction.
“We are having a lot of challenges with containing motorists. This is because some people are exempted and markets have been opened in strategic locations. Before you know it, you have a lot of people moving around and making excuses. Even when they are held, they have one or two persons they would call to intervene.
“This is making the whole exercise difficult for officers and men. But even at that, we are trying our best. But that doesn’t give them (officers) the right to collect money from motorists and commuters, because anyone caught would be dealt with decisively.
“But we cannot be everywhere at the same time, even as we are monitoring. We appeal to residents to call in whenever they encounter such illegal activities, so we can take necessary actions.”
The extortions have now sparks hike in the transport fare, ‘’ before the lockdown, we do pay N1000 as transport fare to Jalingo from Yola, but now the fare hikes to N3000.
‘’ The drivers’ complaints of extortion by security operatives and other vigilantes on the road and I saw it while traveling to Jalingo’’ said one traveler Mercy Dogo.
Bus drivers’ strikes
In the meantime, bus drivers conveying perishable commodities such as tomatoes, pepper, and onion from northeastern states to various south eastern and southwestern states have begun to park their vehicles over alleged incessant extortion and harassment by security agents in checkpoints.
The drivers consequently have threatened to withdraw their services should authorities fail to address the problem, an action that is likely going to affect the availability and prices of these commodities in the southern states.
The alleged extortion had already caused an increase in transport fare of these commodities by about 70%, which is born by the end-user.
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) officials spoken to had also expressed concern over the unfair treatment meted on its members despite a presidential directive for drivers carrying essential items to be granted access to all parts of the country.
For Adamu Kabiru popularly known as Magaji Dankwai who just returned from Lagos where he took 120 bags of pepper in his bus known to many as a boxer, and this may be his last trip for now.
Dankwai resolved not to undertake the trip again until after the current Coronavirus pandemic is over, for alleged constant extortion, harassment, beating, and delay on the road caused by security agents at checkpoints.
The driver who parks his bus at Muda Lawal Market (the largest perishable and tuber market in Bauchi metropolis) said his resolve to quit Lagos route and all other western states was preceded by similar painful but a compelling decision on routes in the eastern and south-southern states, over the same problems.
He recalls that before the coronavirus pandemic, Dankwai confided that the maximum he and other drivers spend on checkpoints from Bauchi to Lagos is N5,000.
‘’The amount now skyrocketed to N30, 000 or more. During my last trip, from Abuja to Ibadan alone I spent about N15, 000 and the organizing secretary of our association spent N17,000 a week before on the same axis. Another driver from our branch called Kagara had to part ways with N10,000 at a checkpoint in Ago on his way to Lagos.
“Initially we give each checkpoint between N100 and N200 and they allow us passage. However, when this Corona issue started, the checkpoints request the money in thousands. The least they now accept is from N500 to N1, 000,” he said.
According to him, even the N500 or N, 1000 that is being accepted is usually after long bargain and pleas, which normally cause them, delay in arriving at their destination.
Also corroborating, another driver Awwal Rariya who conveys Tomatoes, Pepper and Onion from Jama’are, Soro and Lago all in Bauchi state also said many of his colleagues have parked their vehicles, ‘’ due to the dramatic rise in checkpoints fees and harassment.’’
Rariya claims that in his last trip to Lagos from Jama’are, he had spent N19,500 in the first leg of the trip and had spent almost the same amount during the return journey.
“Our major concern is the return journey because you hardly can get load to carry back home. “So, by the time you calculate money for fuel, checkpoints, etc, you will discover that the trip is not worth doing even with the increase in the transportation price”, says Rariya.
Dankwai and Rariya were not the only ones being extorted by security agents and vigilante groups on the roads as they try to convey essential food items from north to southern parts of the country.
Imrana’s trip to Gboko in Benue state where he conveyed 45 baskets of tomatoes was not an exception. He also had to part away with either N500 or N1000 at every checkpoint or get detained for hours if he refuses to do the needful.
Also recalling an incident that recently happened with one of their member, the deputy chairman of NURTW in Katagum Local Government, Abdullahi Zubairu said, ‘’ one of our drivers refused an N200,000 consignment of pepper to Lagos from Kano after calculating the huge amount of money he is going to spend on checkpoints.
‘’The driver simply left the vehicle in Kano and return to Azare, with a resolve not to undertake the trip again until after the pandemic.’’
Another concern for these drivers is the series of inhuman treatment meted on them by the security agents including police, soldiers and government approved vigilante.
Narrating his ordeal, Dankwai recalled how a government-approved vigilante official used his belt and beat his conductor at a checkpoint in Okene despite giving them N1,000.
He also recalled how a boxer driver from Jos with whom he plies the eastern routes was beaten to death at a produce checkpoint right before his eyes in Delta state, for refusing to give them N500, despite paying revenue fees for the produce he was conveying.
The drivers are also delayed unnecessarily at the checkpoints, thereby elongating the time of their arrival at their destination.
For now, bus drivers in the northeast are skeptical in the journey, despite the fact that this is the peak season for the perishable goods such as tomatoes, pepper and onions.
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered for free movement of vehicles carrying food and other essential items in the wake of lockdown of some states in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The president in his two broadcasts to the nation on 29th March and 13th April 2020 declared that “all vehicles conveying food and other essential humanitarian items into these locations from other parts of the country will also be screened thoroughly before they are allowed to enter these restricted areas”.
