Okegwo Kenechukwu, Onitsha
At least 15 people sustained injuries and property worth millions of
naira destroyed after two groups of transporter workers clashed in Onitsha,
Anambra State, over multiple levies.
According to eyewitnesses’ accounts, trouble started after the leader of
the Asaba/Onitsha Unit of the urban drivers unit, Chief Peter Jindu aka Pikolo,
led a mob to Onitsha and Asaba end of bridge head, shutting down routes to
Onitsha and Asaba.
The crisis left traders and other passengers, who came to buy and sell
from Onitsha and Asaba, stranded and they had to trek several kilometers
during the four days period that the protest lasted.
Our correspondent gathered the protest escalated as both factions
mobilized and engaged in a free for all. Suspected hoodlums seized the
opportunity to barge into GUO’s Transport Company’s office and carted away
goods, cash and other valuables worth millions of naira.
Narrating his ordeal, a security officer, attached to GUO’s Transport
Company, Asaba, who did not want his name mentioned for security reasons,
alleged that the hoodlum came in their numbers at about 3pm, blocking entrance
to GUO’s office. He said that buses loaded with passengers were attacked. The
workers were also attacked before the company was robbed.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GUO Group, Chief G. U
Okeke, accused Jindu of instigating trouble between Onitsha and Asaba.
He said that the leadership of the unit at Onitsha and Asaba were having
disagreement over new levies.
He explained: “When I heard about the crisis, I invited them and
from our interactions with them, we discovered that Jindu, according to
allegations, was demanding that my manager at the Onitsha Park should be
paying him N20, 000 daily instead of the usual N3, 000. The
said Jindu was a newly elected chairman of the unit in Asaba. I discovered also
that he was looking for his own selfish interest. He deceived his groups at
Asaba, who ply Onitsha/Asaba routes, alleging that the Anambra State Government
was imposing multiple taxations.”
Okeke further said: "During the meeting, he said that each bus
should pay certain amount of money on each trip to Onitsha. But looking at the
total money each bus would be paying on each trip, it comes to a total of
N6000. They also informed me that when my manager refused his demand, he went
and wrote a petition to the Anambra State Government. We were invited to Awka
by the Honourable Commissioner for Transport, Anambra State, Dr. Christian
Madubuko. After the meeting, the commissioner instructed my workers not to take
to violence. The next thing Jindu did was to organise thugs and miscreants to
shutdown buses from Asaba to Onitsha. As if that was not bad enough,
they took advantage of the crisis to attack my office and vandalised my
property. I’ve lodged a complaint at the Delta State Police Command. Police are
now investigating the matter.”
The Chairman of the Anambra State Park management, Chief Godwin Ibekwe,
and Chief Nelson Enendu, member of the management described the act
as economic sabotage against Delta and Anambra states governments.
They explained that Anambra and Delta states do not operate the
same transport system, at least not in the same way. Delta operates with
members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), while it is
prohibited and proscribed in Anambra State.
According to Enendu, Jindu was a member of the Urban Drivers Welfare.
When they had disagreement in Onitsha, he went to Asaba and formed his own
group. He was later elected chairman, which was not up to three months now.
Enendu described Jindu’s claim as a white lie, pointing out that Anambra State
has a unified transport ticket and that nobody imposed any tax on drivers.
He explained that the present Anambra State Government had zero
tolerance for any act of banditry. He stated that most people look for crisis
in order to rob. He, however, expressed the hope that the state would be ready
to square it up with anybody who might want to disrupt the peace in the state.
Stating his own side of the story, Jindu , insisted that his
members were being levied multiple taxes in Onitsha. He alleged that they paid
money at every loading point in Onitsha and on each trip, the drivers pay
outrageous fees.
He also denied asking the Onitsha manager of the Asaba Park to pay him
N20, 000 daily.
His words: “What I’m asking is that we should have a unified
ticket. Anybody who told you I was demanding money, God will punish him.”
The Delta State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), a Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP), Oneme Onovakpoyeya, said the Command would
ensure that the culprits who attacked GUO’s office would be arrested and
brought to book.
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