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Protest in Rivers community over extortion of motorists
A near fatal clash was recently averted in Kira, a
community in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State. Commercial motorists
and villagers joined forces against a trend that has placed the community at
the mercy of policemen on the Port Harcourt-Ikot Abasi highway, prompting calls
for the intervention of the governors of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states as well as
the police high command, reports Senior
Correspondent, Psaro Yornamue.
Policemen
along the Port Harcourt-Ikot-Abasi road, who had become notorious for extorting
motorists plying the route, got more than they bargained for barely a week ago
when commercial bus drivers and the Kira community in Tai Local Government Area
of Rivers State joined forces in protest against their activities. The march
took the Highway Police Team 159 by surprise, forcing the policemen to run for
cover.
The
protesters lamented that the Highway Team 159 from Ikot-Abasi, charged with the
responsibility of combating crime along the Rivers and Akwa Ibom route, had
since the beginning of this year abandoned their mission and instead resorted
to fleecing commercial motorists and the villagers. The protest almost turned the
filling station at Kira, where the team stationed its Pick-Up van, into a
combat arena between civilians and the armed policemen, causing a terrible
traffic jam on the road for hours before the team was finally chased away by
the angry protesters.
Daily
Independent gathered that on a daily basis the team
stations its van, with the inscription: “Team 159 Ikot-Abasi Zone -
Highway Crime Prevention” a few metres from the Kira community. While the
team leader would be inside the vehicle other officers move to the highway to
stop commercial drivers, ordering them out of their vehicles to pay N500 to the
leader inside the vehicle before being allowed to proceed on their journey.
The
protesters claimed that the policemen threaten drivers at gunpoint and often
brutalise those who fail to yield to their demand. One of the protesters, Mr.
Buki Musa, told this reporter that despite sending three petitions to the
Inspector-General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, through the Assistant
Inspector-General, Zone 6 Calabar, the activities of the team have continued
unabated.
“We
decided to register our displeasure through the protest for the public to be
aware of a looming major confrontation that might come up in December between
the team and the commercial drivers plying the Port Harcourt - Ikot-Abasi
road,” he said.
According
to Musa, the highway patrol team injured about three drivers last month over
their refusal to part with N500 demanded from them. Sources also informed that
the people of Kira community had in February this year registered their protest
in a letter to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Tai Council headquarters,
who reportedly told them to direct their petition to Calabar, the headquarters
of Zone 6.
In
two separate petitions made available to our correspondent at Kira community
and the Eleme junction motor park, and addressed to the Inspector-General of
Police, the protesters wondered why the monitoring team from the IGP’s
office has not visited the route despite their complaints.
The
protesters called on the Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, and his Akwa
Ibom counterpart, Obong Victor Attah, to intervene to avoid bloodbath between
the police and commercial drivers on the highway, adding that since their
petitions have not been considered their next line of action will be to slug it
out with the police on the route.
When
our correspondent contacted the Rivers State Police Command, he gathered that
the Commissioner of Police, Mr Sylvester Araba, had directed the Public
Relations Officer (PRO) to observe the team and that the AIG would be informed.
He however urged the drivers to report cases of extortion to his office.
Meanwhile,
the Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and a human rights group,
Journalists Watch Niger Delta (JOWAND), have condemned the activities of the
Highway Team 159 on the Port Harcourt - Ikot-Abasi route, and called on the IGP
to take appropriate action to stem the ugly trend and ensure that the officers
involved are prosecuted.
The
organisations also urged the Rivers State Commissioner of Police to borrow a
leaf from his Lagos State counterpart by arresting policemen who fleece
motorists in the state, pointing out that the East- West road was not the only
one in the state.
A
police source informed that the common practice has been difficult to eradicate
in the Force because of the involvement of top officers who receive
“daily returns from those on the field.”
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