There was traffic gridlock in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Thursday following blockade of the Owerri/Port Harcourt road and Owerri/Onitsha road by truck drivers protesting what they described as incessant harassment and extortion by operatives of the taskforce on illegal parks in the state.
Operating under the auspices of Trailer Drivers Association, the group lamented that some of their members’ vehicles were impounded by the task force headed by the Special Adviser to the governor on Illegal Parks, Frank Onwumere, and his boys since four months for no justifiable reason
Speaking to journalists during the protest, one of the leaders of the Trailer Drivers Association, who identified himself as Monday Ossai, who operates from Oneh Seaport, Rivers State, explained that they blocked the two roads within Owerri Municipal to draw the attention of government to the harassment and extortion of their members.
The accused Onwumere of tarnishing the image of the governor who they said meant well for the people of the state.
“Truck drivers are very depressed as Hon. Frank Onwumere and his boys do not allow us to operate freely on the road in Imo State, day and night. Regrettably, the mistreatment that badly affected us was the seizure, impounding of our members’ vehicles by Onwumere and his team for four months, including the demand of N250,000 with clearance paper of road worthiness of our vehicles.
“Onwumere heartlessly told us that we must pay N250,000 before our vehicles are released – that truck drivers in Rivers and Lagos States pay N250,000 and N350,000 respectively” he said.
Ossai said that in order to restore sanity, law and orderliness on the road, they are calling on the governor to immediately sack Onwumere and bring in someone with human face to do the work to avoid tarnishing his image.
The drivers also demanded quick intervention on the badly damaged Port Harcourt Expressway and other deplorable roads in the state to ease traffic.
Also speaking, a truck driver who gave his name as Aliyu Haruna said that they don’t encounter problems in other states, and it is only when they enter Imo roads that problem always starts.
“They said that we should not ply the roads during daytime which we agreed but the problem is at that time we are supposed to make use of the roads there is always a blockade by the military at Obinze once it is 9:00 pm,”
he complained
