Motorists lament harassment in the hands of Abia touts

Every day, on the streets of Aba and Umuahia, the state capital, motorists; both commercial and private car owners have different ugly stories to tell about the activities of touts and officials of Abia Revenue collection agents on Abia roads.

In Aba, the commercial nerve of the state drivers bringing goods into the city, we gathered in the night to avoid harassment and extortion in the hands of touts and government agents.

Investigation by this medium has it that the government agents operates usually with small mini buses on major roads including Aba-Owerri Expressway, Azikiwe, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Faulks road and other roads.

The touts however operate around Osisioma junction, between Union Bank bus stop to Brass junction and Factory road by railway crossing.

A commercial transporter who gave his name as Ikechukwu, narrating his experiences in the hands of touts and some revenue agents of government described it as unfortunate, stressing that the activities of touts and agents of government have continued to be on the increase even after the state government reportedly outlawed their activities on the road.

“The worst of them is the obstruction group in Aba North and South. Indiscriminate dismantling of plate numbers is now the order of the day. In Aba, you can you’re your car at the middle of the road and even where you know that you are against traffic and because you have their so-called parking permit, you can be as lawless as you can.

“People pay as much as N15, 000 to have their plate numbers back without any official receipt, meaning that the money goes into their personal pockets.”

The motorist however claimed that the activities if staff of ASPIMS who were dragging steering with him nearly cost the lives of his passengers as they plunged into the drainage along Aba-Owerri Expressway in Aba, the economic nerve of the state.

To authenticate the claims of Ikechukwu, our eagle lens on Thursday in Aba captured some personnel of Abia state Passengers Integrated Manifest Scheme (ASPIMS) on Aba-Owerri Expressway as they were struggling the steering of a private car carrying livestock feeds in the midst of traffic gridlock.

The activities of these ASPIMS officials worsened the traffic situation until a Mobile Policeman came and used horse whip to disperse them.

Motorists however appealed to the state government to come to their aid, stressing that the activities of these government agencies are becoming overbearing.