Motorists and residents plying the Onitsha-Owerri road have lamented the alleged extortion by the military, who mounted checkpoints at the Enamel junction and the Obosi By-pass axis of the federal road.
The Enamel junction is located in Ogbaru Local Government Area, while the Obosi By-pass is located in the Idemili North Local Government Area, a few kilometers apart.
The Onitsha-Owerri road, which links motorists from the Upper Iweka axis to other communities in Anambra State, has been in a poor state for years, causing gridlock daily.
Due to the 6 am – 6 pm curfew placed on some local government areas, including the Ogbaru LGA, by the state government, the military personnel have resorted to extorting motorists who ply the section of the road by past 6 pm, the commuters alleged.
Some motorists who spoke to journalists on Monday complained that the military checkpoints, particularly the Enamel junction, had become a “detention camp” where motorists were detained and sometimes subjected to various forms of punishment, ranging from frog jumps to sitting on the bare floor.
Our correspondent gathered that, as a result of the curfew, tricycle operators pay N200, shuttle bus operators pay N500, while heavy-duty vehicles pay N1,000 upwards at the checkpoints, depending on the loads they carry.
A resident of Awada in Idemili North LGA, identified as Catherine Osondu, who said she plies the road to her residence daily, lamented that on Sunday, she and other passengers were detained by soldiers at the Enamel junction for simply looking at the military personnel while they were sourcing for change (balance) for the tricycle operator carrying them.
Osondu said, “At about 6:47 pm on Sunday, when the Keke that carried us got to Enamel, the Keke rider gave the military personnel N500, and as they were sourcing for change, they forcefully ordered us to alight. They later gave the Keke rider N300 change and ordered him to move while they ordered us to stand by the roadside.
“They started querying us for looking at their faces while they were sourcing for change for the Keke rider. They detained us for more than an hour.
“Some other victims who tried to resist were also forced to do frog jump in our presence. It was a funny experience that evening. I didn’t know that it was now a crime to look at the faces of soldiers.”
The leader of the Tricycle Riders Association in the area, Jude Eche, called on the state government to cancel the curfew imposed since June so that the military would not have any reason to extort motorists.
He said, “We are always at the mercy of the soldiers at Enamel and Obosi By-pass checkpoints every evening. On Sunday night, there were complaints that some persons were detained and some people were made to frog-jump just for flimsy reasons by the soldiers.
“Their activities at the checkpoint in the name of imposing curfew are always causing the road users pain, while they will be looking for change to give bus operators after each payment. This always causes a very long stretch of gridlock every evening.
“Driving along that axis has become a nightmare. We can only appeal to the state government to cancel the curfew they was imposed since June so that these people will not have reasons to continue to extort motorists.”
When contacted, the Chairman of the Awada Central Community Development Association, Gabriel Nkasi, noted that the communities around the area had observed, with dismay, the “negative” attitude of the soldiers at the checkpoints.
Nkasi said although their presence was a way of scaring hoodlums and robbers off the road, extorting motorists because of the curfew was not part of their job, adding that they have turned the checkpoints into business centres.
He said, “We are not against them mounting roadblock. But it should be for surveillance and improving security by curbing crime on the road. Extorting motorists of various amounts of money in the name of curfew restriction of movement is unacceptable, and we urge the authorities to caution them.
“The gridlock caused by their activities coupled with the bad road is always scary and has caused untold hardship on road users. We urge the government to also look at the curfew that has been placed since June and see how they will lift it.”
The state police spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, said the state police commissioner had frowned at such activities by the security operatives and urged the members of the public who have fallen victim to such to make an official complaint via the police public complaint line.
“The leadership of the command frown at such (activities) or any other related vices. The Commissioner of Police, on receiving reports of such, has since directed the X-squad team and CP monitoring unit to be on the lookout for such corrupt officers.
“He has equally encouraged citizens to always take advantage of the of control number 07039194332 and the public complaint unit number 08039334002 of the command to report such officer,” Ikenga added.
As of the time of filing this report, the press secretary to Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Christian Aburime, did not respond to calls on his telephone line nor reply to messages sent to him.
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