IZUNNA OKAFOR
It was a frustrating day for motorists and other road users, who intended to ply within or through the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State on Friday, as trucks and lorry drivers in the state totally blocked all the major entry and exit roads in the state through Onitsha, including the Onitsha Bridge Head, the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, and the Onitsha-Owerri Road, among others.
Some trending videos from the scene show very long queues of vehicles stuck in the snarl-up, while many people (including those with loads) were seen making use of their legs. Some frustrated-looking commuters who were visibly tired of sleeping and staying one place were also seen perambulating and roaming around to stretch their legs and catch some fresh breath after a very long wait inside the vehicles, amid the very infectious odour oozing out from the dirty gutters of Onitsha.
It was gathered that the drivers, who blocked the roads, did so in protest against Anambra State Government’s imposition of taxes and levies on their members and other vehicles that bring goods into the state.
According to the protesting drivers, the State Government had imposed a levy of N30,000 for trailers loading and offloading goods in the state, while other vehicles have their own amount ranging from N20,000 to N25,000.
Speaking on behalf of others, one of the drivers, Odion Omoroge, said he was shocked when he heard about the levy, coupled with the manner at which some revenue agents of the government do their job as though they are all rebranded touts.
“Violence about the collection of money by the government revenue collectors is being witnessed daily in Anambra state, particularly in Onitsha. Violence is more pronounced now than ever before, yet the same government said it does not want touts, yet touts are having a field day on the roads on a daily basis,” he said.
Howbeit, after long hours of wait and delay, the stranded commuters and road users had their hopes of getting to their destinations revived, as the State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo intervened on the issued and restored a state of normalcy in the area.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Christian Aburime, the Governor, upon receiving the reports, directed some relevant state actors to the scene, where they engaged the protesting drivers in dialogue, and shortly after which the issue was resolved with certain conditions clearly stipulated, to avoid future reoccurrence of such.
Aburime’s press statement partly reads: “A report was received early this morning, Friday, 9th December 2022 by Anambra State Government, on the blockage of the road leading into Anambra State from Head Bridge, Onitsha by lorries loaded with plain wood products.
“Following the directives of the Governor, the Special Adviser on Security and the Managing Director, OCHA Brigade moved to the location. On arrival, they engaged with the Police Area Commander of Onitsha, DPOs of Head Bridge and Harbour, the lorry drivers’ leadership and two flying revenues concessionaires.
“The matter was resolved based on four key resolutions:
“Government shall deal decisively with anybody found on the road without accreditation as a revenue agent and at an approved revenue collection point.
“The government enforcement bodies (ANJET and OCHA Brigade) shall work with transport bodies, contractors and security agencies to ensure revenue collection is sanitized.
“Only Government-accredited revenue collection points shall aggregate appropriate revenue collection agents; government has declared wanted, all notorious criminals terrorizing drivers on the roads and shall deal with them decisively.
“The State wishes to use this opportunity to solicit the cooperation of all well-meaning citizens particularly with the new Government approach to revenue generation, which the government is working hard to sanitize.
“The State Government will not spare any effort to fish out illegal revenue collectors and bring them to book.
“Ndi Anambra are urged to go about their normal duties and to avail themselves of the helplines of the State (07039896429, 09017280990, 09076237441, 08093175528, 09187514891, 09168041120 and 08124153139) in order to report any untoward incident on our roads and in our markets, in an effort to build a peaceful and liveable Anambra State.”