The state Commissioner for Information, Chief Tony Onyima, told newsmen in Onitsha that the government can no longer tolerate the illegal activities of touts.
Onyima expressed surprise that the touts regrouped after being dislodged earlier in the year, promising that the government would move against them again.
“Anambra is not a state where anybody can just get on the road and harass drivers, especially lorry and trailer drivers, knowing that most of them come from other states. These drivers do not know who is who most of the time; the people doing this thing are touts that organised themselves. They are neither local government staff nor employees of the state government,’’ he said.
Earlier, Chairman of Nigeria Lorry Drivers’ Association (NILODA), Mr Uche Nebuwa, had said that activities of touts on federal roads in the state are affecting his colleagues.
Nebuwa said his members are beaten up and their trucks seized for days for not paying touts money on demand.
“Coming from Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta along the Lagos-Ore-Benin-Asaba, you have no problems; even if there is, it is just one check-point where you pay the approved due and collect a receipt. Likewise from Rivers to Imo, nobody occupies the federal highway as if it is his father’s property. But getting into Anambra, the story is totally different with the clusters of touts on the highways, wielding big sticks and dangerous weapons. While you are being punished for not paying through severe beating, others will be ransacking your vehicle and pilfering whatever they can. In extreme cases, lorry drivers are often forced to pay as much as N40,000 to the touts,” the chairman said. (NAN)
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