It was a sunny afternoon and Onitsha, the commercial
nerve center of Anambra State was in its usual bubble. Commercial drivers,
cyclists and pedestrians competed for space in the midst of blaring horns and
sounds from roadside music record stores.
The setting was
Upper Iweka Road by Port Harcourt Road junction near Ochanja Market. A tricycle
operator carrying bales of clothes tied in a sack was coming from the Ochanja
end trying to climb the flyover when suddenly two boys clutching logs of wood
and cane sticks accosted him, demanding for money. Shouting in Igbo language,
one of them said: “Nwokem nye anyi ife anyi ozigbo, meaning, Mr, give us our
thing immediately.
The tricycle
rider in annoyance told them that they should not disturb him since he just paid
to their colleagues at Ochanja roundabout, a distance of about five poles to
the particular spot they were. The rider’s comment was like a lit match stick
thrown into a fuel container as the boys just angrily retorted. “Biko jide ya
ebe ahu, onye gwalu gi na obu ndi otu anyi no ebe ahu. Meaning, enough of that,
who told you that the group you ‘settled’ is the same as ours.
In a moment, a
scuffle ensued and blood started flowing as the boys had used the log of wood
in their hands to break the cyclist’s head after snatching some naira notes
from his pocket. Surprisingly, no one intervened as the boys suddenly
disappeared from the scene only to regroup later.
From Upper Iweka
to Creek Road, Fegge area of Onitsha, another driver of a Hiace Dyna truck
loaded with building materials was heading towards Modebe roundabout when
another group of boys ran to him to collect cash in exchange for a receipt with
the inscription: OH MPA Consultancy, Anambra State Government. The driver also
hesitated to pay, explaining that he had earlier paid and collected receipts
from four different groups from Bridge Head Timber Market to the spot but the
boys would take no explanation.
As the driver
moved the vehicle, the boys jumped into the back and began removing pieces of
wood in exchange for the money the driver refused to part with. As they were
throwing the woods on the ground, the next throw landed on the windscreen of a
Toyota Avalon car coming behind the truck, shattering the windscreen to pieces.
Before the
driver of the damaged vehicle could pull to a stop, the boys had jumped down
from the truck and taken to their heels.
Army of
occupation
The two scenario
replicated here are just samplers on the activities of touts, youth groups,
pseudo militant organisations and criminal entities that have held major cities
in Onitsha, Nkpor, Obosi, Ihiala, Awka and Nnewi, all in Anambra State by the
jugular in recent times.
To put it
mildly, Anambra State is under siege and the people are bleeding profusely from
the menace of some elements who milk the citizens dry , extort money by force
in the name of internally generated revenue for the state government and divert
such into private coffers.
Some analysts
have described the trend as the latest business in town that yields money like
oil exploration venture. The only thing required to kick start the business is
just having a heart for harassing people and withstanding resistance. Printing
of fake receipts, arming oneself with logs of wood, canes, jack knife, ability
to get high on drugs (alcohol and Indian hemp) and getting the backing of
somebody connected with those in power in the state. Once the above conditions
are met, business starts in earnest and the businessman only needs to station
himself in one corner of any market, road junction or bye pass and money will
be raked in from drivers, Okada riders, keke riders and anybody carrying
personal loads.
Investigation by
Sunday Sun revealed that the major actors in the big swindle include members of
the outlawed Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB), another splinter group from MASSOB known as A1YO ( Association of
Igbo Youths Organisation), Ogbaru Youths, popularly known as Ndi Ukwu Aziza,
Obosi Youths, Onitsha Ado Youths etc.
A city bleeding
in the hands of lawless groups
In Fegge area,
Onitsha South Local Governmnet Area, residents and business owners are passing
through hell under the terror of the lawless groups. Investigations by Sunday
Sun revealed that for the people of this area, packing into a new apartment,
sucking of sewage, offloading containers, and construction of stalls and
sit-outs attract an unofficial fee ranging from N5,000 to N25,000. Offering any
resistance is at the risk of losing one’s teeth, getting one’s head broken or
summary abduction.
A resident in
the area, Chukwudum Thomas, while bemoaning their plight, told Sunday Sun said
that even hair dressers , artisans and road side barbers pay money to the group
of boys or face brutality.
“On Friday last week, these boys entered the
hairdressing salon of a woman at Oraukwu Street in Fegge here with machetes and
axes. They forcefully made away with her N12, 000 and two handsets. Not only
that, my son was a victim too. I sent him to buy kerosene around 7pm on
Saturday, and two boys sent by their commander snatched his handset and N1000
in his possession and beat him up. When I went to ask them why, they demanded
N10, 000 from me otherwise, I will leave Fegge for them. I no longer sleep in
my house now out of fear,” he said.
The reporter
also gathered that the boys assemble daily at a demolished structure along
Silas Works Road, Fegge from where their boss posts them to several parts of
the town for the day’s extortion business. Some are positioned within the
Onitsha Main Market, Johnson Street by Bright Street and others within Ochanja
roundabout, Okwei Junction, Niger Street and all other exit routes within Fegge
axis.
Inside the
Onitsha Main Market is a competition of extortions as anyone conveying even a
small carry -on bag must pay. The boys are stationed within Johnson Street by
Sokoto Road junction, Jaguar Plaza, Pam – Pam Lane, Ezeolisa Street , Kano
Street / Haruna, Mosque area / Bida Street .
One of the
traders in the market simply identified as Kenneth in a chat with the reporter
painted a grim situation of things in the area.
“This is the largest market in West Africa and you
could imagine the kind of people trooping into this place daily for goods and
services but the scenario is not a healthy development for those of us trading
here and even our customers coming from outside. For us, we suffer untold
hardship from our market leaders and we don’t have any option. We pay N450 per
head every three months for security and we don’t know how much they generate
and how many people they recruited for security. We also pay N300 per shop as
sanitation levy but we dispose refuse on our own. Then we suffer extortion with
our customers because they collect it by force from all of us in all these
nooks and crannies,” he lamented.
The activities
of Ogbaru youths and lamentations of keke riders
The Ogbaru
Youths popularly known as Ndi Ukwu Aziza (the broom bundle) is another group
whose activities leave much to be desired. While they allegedly issue all
manner of receipts and collect tolls from people, they routinely stage public
shows at Uga Junction beside Mobil filling station and Bridge Head where they
brandish cutlasses and axes striking them on the floor and in the air, invoking
fear in the hearts of all roadside traders and everybody within the area. Some
people urinate in their pants while their show goes on while many begin to
count their losses when they leave since some would sustain injuries, as many
would still lose cash while others have their goods destroyed.
For this group,
their major victims are the tricycle operators. An angry Keke rider narrated to
the reporter how they were made to cough out all they toil for in the day to
settle the boys.
“Those of us that ply from Obodo Ukwu Road in Ogbaru
here to Upper Iweka down to Bridge Head in Onitsha go through at least 25 tolls
paying amounts ranging from N50 to N250 per toll to criminal groups who operate
under different pretexs.
We pay it this
way: Obodo Ukwu Road/ Atani Road N150, Obodukwu Road/ Ede Road N150, Ogbaru
Relief Market NI50, Aba Park by Upper Iweka N150, Onitsha flyover top N150,
Down flyover N150, Upper Iweka / Ekeson Park( three toll points) N150 each ,
Uga Junction / Onitsha – Enugu Expressway N150, Onitsha Niger Bridge Head
(manned by Ogbaru Youths and three other groups )
“They also force us to pay another N100 in the evening
which they say is for Chairman’s feeding while there is another group that
gives us a small piece of carton and collects N100 excluding the ones that
collect money and use marker pen to inscribe on our tricycle as proof of
payment for the day.”
Some of the receipts/ tickets obtained by Sunday Sun
from a tricycle operator bear no address, phone numbers or verifiable links to
the real owners of the extortion business.
They included-
All routes motor ticket, Government of Anambra State, ASWAMA in collaboration
with OH! NPA company, Tricycle Welfare ticket, ATOODAS AOWAN KNOWAAS TICKET,
Anambra State Government OBYHANS NIGERIA LTD ACCREDITED AGENT among others .
Other groups
involved in this business from further investigations included Onitsha Ado
Youths and Nkpor Youths. The youths engage in forceful collection of daily
tolls from roadside petty traders while they divide themselves into various
groups. A trader may end up paying more than eight different groups in one day.
Any resistance from the market women results in instant confiscation of the
person’s goods and a visit to their office attracts stiffer penalties.
In Obosi area,
the youths have already formed a shadow government where all commercial
vehicles passing through the community must pay tolls ranging from N200 to
N1000. Permanently stationed along the hilly parts of Akaora junction and
Urowullu, punishment for an uncooperative driver is breaking of side mirrors or
confiscation of some goods in transit. Private and commercial motorcyclists are
also not spared as they are harassed into parting with money unless the rider
purchases a rider’s permit at the cost of N1000.
Government loses
N20 billion to touts
Commenting on
the situation, the Deputy State Coordinator, National Committee Against
Touting, Anambra State Command, Okwudili Ohanoneze in a chat with Sunday Sun
regretted that undesirable elements have long held various revenue windows of
the state captive thereby causing serious revenue loss to the state government.
“In retrospect, the state was blinded for many years
and lost over N10 billion to then National Union of Road Transport workers who
managed the motor parks and bus stops in the state without remitting any money
to the state coffers. The National Association of Road Transport Owners (
NARTO) also came on board and denied the state government sizeable revenue for
six years and over N4 billion was also lost to NARTO escapades in the state.
The good news was that when the Obi administration came in, he privatized parks
and accruable revenue from the motor parks contributed over N10 million monthly
to the government purse. But the motor parks that are yielding the amount of
money are being threatened by touts and hoodlums denying government additional
N6 billion revenue accruable to them. It is time for the Obiano administration
to tackle the situation holistically so that there will be sanity,” he said.
Anambra State
Government declares war on hoodlums
Apparently irked
by the ugly scenario of the activities of illegal youth groups and criminal
entities, the Anambra State Government has declared total war against all forms
of criminality plaguing the state.
In a chat with
Sunday Sun, the outgoing Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism,
Chief Joe Martins Uzodike said the government is determined to enthrone a new
order. He said the Obi administration started the process of handling such
anomalies by banning and proscribing all such youth bodies while the Obiano
administration in the spirit of continuity has taken it a notch higher by
confronting the situation headlong.
He acknowledged
that the activities of all those groups were discussed at the state executive
council meeting and a decision taken to handle the situation. Chief Uzodike
noted that the residents of Fegge were safe as the people holding them captive
had been dislodged while the special joint task force team set up by the Obiano
administration would continue to work until sanity prevailed everywhere. He
advised all criminally minded people to turn a new leaf or relocate since
nobody would be spared.
Tags
Society
I never knew or believed in my able governor, His exellence Governor OBIANO befor now not untill he assumed office. His boldness, charisma and steady fast in puting Anambra people at heart. He has alots of enemy by now but its wot we all the Anambra people should also join hands together with him and make our state an investment avenue for foreigners and us all. Let us join hands together with OBIANO government to say NO TO CRIME
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