Human and vehicular movements were on Friday disrupted for over 4 hours along the ever-busy Tran-Saharan Highway in Abakaliki, the State capital of Ebonyi State as tricycle operators protested alleged extortion and multiple taxation by agents of the government.
The highway links Ebonyi, Cross River and Taraba states in Nigeria as well as Cameroon.
The tricycle operators in their thousands, also blocked other adjoining roads and streets linking the highway with their tricycles.
Some of the issues raised by the protesters includes new registration of their tricycles as introduced by their leadership and the state government.
They alleged that the government, in connivance with their leaders is compelling them to pay for what they had done before the introduction of new registration in their union.
The situation attracted heavy presence of security agencies including police and army personnel.
One of the protesters, Moses Egede alleged that they spent over N10,000 on taxes and other extortion weekly. “Everyday, we are made to pay N500 as ticket fees apart from various amounts we also pay to various taskforce that always stop us at various roads and junctions.
“We are spending a lot on taxes and extortion by taskforce and security agents. If you calculate what we spend weekly, you will discover that we spend over N10,000.
“If you drive to International Market, you’ll buy ticket; if you drive to Vanco Junction, you’ll buy ticket, if you also reach Rice Mill, you will be forced to buy ticket; if you also reach Spera-in-deo, you will buy ticket and this happens everyday”, he said.
Another protester, Nwokpoku Abraham, said tricycle operators were being treated as if they were no longer part of the state.
He alleged that they were paying N150 as ticket fee which was increased to N200, N300 and N500, describing it as unacceptable
“In all these things, taskforce have not allowed us to work. If you park by the roadside, taskforce will jump into your tricycle and hold you. Most times, they will deflate your tires or impound your tricycle if you refused to give them money.
“We are being extorted and intimidated a lot, and this is why we say it must stop. This is why we are protesting”, Nwokpoku stated.
He accused the Chairman of tricycle operators in the state, Uguru Nwabueze of promoting multiple taxation in their union and imposing of new registration of members.
When contacted, Uguru denied the allegations, insisting that there was no database for tricycle operators in the state until he came in and resolved that there must be a database to checkmate crimes often committed using tricycle.
He said that tricycles have been used severally to rob innocent people, livestock and other valuable which made his leadership and the state government to introduce online registration of members of the association to easily identify any tricycle used to commit crime in the state.
He noted that he has pleaded that the registration exercise be extended to enable all the tricycle operators to register and has secured the release of all the tricycles impounded by the state Ministry of Transport for not being registered.
He called on the members of the association to remain calm as he was working to ensure their better welfare.
Meanwhile, normalcy has been restored in the area as several vehicles trapped along the major highway have continued their journey.
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