Farmers, commercial motorcycle operators in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State have decried incessant harassment by personnel of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the area.
North East Trust gathered that the atmosphere in Alkaleri was tense following an accident on Friday involving a patrol vehicle of the FRSC when the driver lost control while allegedly chasing a commercial driver killing three people and injuring 12 others.
Irate youths burnt down the FRSC office in the LGA.
A community leader in Alkaleri, Shuaibu Ibrahim, told North East Trust that residents, especially farmers using motorcycles, are always harassed and extorted by the corps personnel
“Majority of people of Alkaleri are farmers who transport their crops from the farm to either market or their respective homes particularly at harvesting period like now.
“FRSC personnel mount checkpoints and stop farmers carrying their grains on motorcycles and charge them between N2000 to N5000. If the motorcyclist refuses to stop they will chase him with their vehicle and knock him down. We have more 20 cases of people who suffered this.
“This ugly trend has been happening for long in Alkaleri and out of respect for the law, people continue to tolerate the harassment. We have already reported the issue to the Divisional Police Station and the District Head of Alkaleri, village head of Gwaran and traditional rulers for their intervention.
“We are appealing to both federal and state governments to intervene to avert breach of peace,” Ibrahim said.
Corroborating, the Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Alkaleri Local Government chapter, Comrade Bala Mohammed Duguri, said that FRSC personnel chased drivers, especially road traffic offenders, with their vehicle on high speed resulting to many accidents.
“We don’t know which law gives them the right to chase motorists and motorcycles. Their antecedent is becoming a source of concern because instead of providing safety on our roads they are now causing accidents and loss of lives,’’he said.
The chairman of Okada riders, Babangida Dan-Malan, said residents are suffering extortion from FRSC operatives.
“It is true that many motorcycle riders defy FRSC to stop for the fear of the exorbitant fines ranging from N2000 to N5000 as some of the Okada riders don’t have the money to pay the fines.
Responding, the Sector Commander of FRSC in Bauchi, Yusuf Abdullahi, denied the allegations, saying that chasing drivers is against their operational guidelines.
“Our operational guidelines condemn chasing and whoever does it among our personnel faces direct dismissal. The FRSC office in Alkaleri has been there for more than 20 years and the state command has never received a single complaint either from individuals or group about our personnel chasing or harassing commuters,” he said.
Abdullahi said the allegation of extortion was also false. He added that the command had on many occasions invited DSS, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences (ICPC) and asked them to search their personnel on the road.
