The protesting tricycle operators at the Police Area command in Ughelli.
Ovedhe Hezekiah – Warri
Tricycle riders in Ughelli North local government, Delta state on Wednesday laid siege at the Ughelli Area Command of the Nigeria Police, protesting extortion and arrest of their members by police.
The tricycle operators numbering over 1000 alleged that the policemen were collecting between N5,000 to N40,000 from alleged violators of a new directive by the state government prohibiting them from plying federal roads in the state.
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The Delta State Government, through the Ministry of Transport, announced the ban on Monday, July 27th. Few hours later, officers from the Area Command started arresting and collecting money from tricyclists, some of whom claimed ignorance of the new directive.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters who also barricaded the East-West and Isoko road, causing gridlock for hours, Pastor Sunday Okorie, said the protest was over the challenges they faced with series of government directives which hinder their operations.
“During this COVID-19 period we have been restricted to carry only two passengers, meanwhile some of us are balancing between N1.2 million to N1.5 million for the Keke, so it is already difficult for us to meet up with the new directive, but yet we are complying.”
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“Now the state government has come up again to say we should not ride on the federal highways. And these highways are the major roots of some of our colleagues. Secondly the police are already capitalizing on this new directive to arrest and extort money from our people. As soon as they see a keke rider on the road even though you just want to turn to the other side of the town, they arrest you.”
“They are now telling us that we cannot crossover to other parts of the town with our keke. Somebody from Afiesere or Upper Afiesere, for instance, cannot cross to mission road and other parts of the town, they will just arrest you. You don’t just make laws suddenly and start prosecuting people without any prior notice or engagement.”
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“We want the state government to first of all look into our plight and consider reversing the decision because inside the town is saturated with Keke and there is no way you can meet up if everyone is riding within the town alone. We want the government to properly define the directive because, Ughelli for instance is divided into two parts and it is separated by the highways.”
When contacted, PPRO, Delta State Police Command, Onome Onowakpoyeya said she has not been briefed on the protest yet.
