ONITSHA— The Anambra State Ministry of Transport in conjunction with the Focus Initiative Against Touting (FIAT), has declared war against traffic offenders, traders who occupy streets, including those engaging in illegal loading and offloading, in a bid to sanitize the state.
The exercise which began on Tuesday morning, torched some strategic places in the state such as Owerri road, Obollo-Ukwu at Ogbaru local government, Headbridge and Upper Iweka Onitsha and some parts of Ochanja market.
The exercise witnessed over 20 buses belonging to commercial drivers being confiscated by operatives of FIAT, Police, Anambra Traffic Management Agency(ATMA) and other relevant agencies for indiscriminate parking and violation of traffic laws even as two persons were apprehended for indulging in illegal ticketing and selling of government vehicle emblems without proper authorisation.
Also, traders engaged in buying and selling at government established amusement parks and on the streets had their wares being confiscated by government agencies as they were told to vacate the place to designated areas.
Speaking to our correspondent, Hon. Commissioner for Transport, Dr. Christian Madubuko said those who engage in touting and illegal business in the state will no longer be tolerated as their activities affects the internal revenue of the state.
He said: “I’m here to check on the activities on the road. We’re trying to clear the road. As you can see, traders have turned the government’s amusement park into a market place and this is not acceptable. So, we’re confiscating every article of trade here.
“We want to restore sanity in this state. That’s why you see us here since morning and people we took to prison last week was brought to court for hearing on the same matter.
“Their offences ranges from illegal loading and offloading, illegal ticketing and collection of government revenue without proper authorisation and so on.
“These people are depriving the state of its revenue, turning the state into a nuisance and this can no longer be tolerated. They come from every angle, sabotaging the revenue base of Anambra state and that will not be tolerated here.
“They go to Delta and Rivers states, bring in the emblems of those states to sell in Anambra state. As you can hear from that woman that was caught, she said that Anambra state emblem is very costly and she said she sells it for ₦10,000 and Delta state emblem for ₦4,000 but those emblems are fake.
“They printed it and use it to sabotage the one printed by the board of internal revenue of the state and because of that, our hearts should be at our back when dealing with these people so that others involved in this illegal business will run away from this state.
“I learnt the other day that a Police DPO asked one of the officers conducting this exercise to leave certain areas that those areas belongs to him. We’ll get at him. He cannot sabotage government. He’s either a PDP member or he’s working for government I don’t know but under the government of Chief Willie Obiano, we cannot tolerate that, otherwise, we bundle him out of this place.”
Madubuko stated that anyone caught indulging in touting activities or sabotaging the economic base of the state would be committed to prison custody until the court pronounce him or her guilty or innocent.
“At times, if you keep these criminals in police custody, the next day or under 5 minutes they’re released and when you ask them, they tell you it’s a bailable offence.
“Somebody was caught with some ticket written ‘Office of the Hon. Commissioner for Transport.’ I’m the commissioner and he was asked if he knew the commissioner and he said ‘yes’ but he could not identify the commissioner. So that clearly shows that probably he printed that ticket or somebody printed and gave him to sell,” he added.
He urged drivers and traders to always make use of designated parks and shops, adding that he would continue to go after them if they fail to adhere to instructions.
