RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Anambra tipper drivers operating within Onitsha axis have condemned in totality what they described as the menace of officials of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA).
Onitsha zone chairman of the tipper drivers, comrade Chukwuebuka Godson Unekwe, who narrated the ordeals of his colleagues in the hands of the ARTMA officials, told this journalist exclusively that the state traffic officials are unleashing terror and mayhem on tipper drivers on daily basis.
Unekwe explained that ARTMA officials are the worst nightmares of tipper drivers because of the incessant confiscations of their vehicle batteries and imposition of exorbitant sums on them before they can retrieve the batteries from ARTMA office in Onitsha.
Unekwe lamented that even when drivers placed caution triangle on the road indicating that a tipper is faulty, ARTMA officials, according to him, will remove them and confiscate their trucks, only to compel them to come to the office and bail the truck with N100,000 or more as the case maybe.
He therefore appealed to the governor to come to their rescue because ARTMA officials are really feeding fat from them and they are helpless and frustrated.
Another salient issue he raised was the issue of streetlights. Unekwe who praised Soludo's security efforts through the exploits of the Udo Ga Chi operatives, said they can now drive at nights without disturbances from hoodlums but reiterated the dire need for installation of streetlights to aid efforts of security personnel.
Apart from streetlights, the Onitsha zone chairman of the tipper drivers equally drew the attention of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to the very deplorable state of Nsugbe road in Anambra-East Local Government Area. He said that the road in question is a major access road for tipper operators, who plied it to convey sands and other materials to their respective destinations.
He said that the road is currently in a very terrible condition and that their trucks got damaged in a bid to access Nsugbe road; urging the governor to rescue them from the devastating experience encountered on the road.
Comrade Unekwe who also implored the governor to help them provide a bus for their taskforce operations to ensure that their members complied with government rules and regulations on tipper operations in the state, congratulated him on his second term reelection.
Unekwe acknowledged that Soludo's road revolution has ended the era of frequent visits to mechanic workshops and that any little money they earned now, went straight into their pockets and not spending them on repairs at the mechanic workshops.
He also acknowledged that Soludo's administration rescued tipper drivers from touts and miscreants terrorising them with obnoxious multiple taxes, adding that all the tipper drivers and operators in Anambra State are solidly behind the governor as he takes the state to the next level of global recognition.
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