• Criminal gangs take over state; swindle, brutalise citizens
• Govt loses billions to touts
It was a sunny afternoon and Onitsha, the commercial nerve center of Anambra State was in its usual bubble. Commercial drivers, cyclists and pedestrians competed for space in the midst of blaring horns and sounds from roadside music record stores.
The setting was Upper Iweka Road by Port Harcourt Road junction near Ochanja Market. A tricycle operator carrying bales of clothes tied in a sack was coming from the Ochanja end trying to climb the flyover when suddenly two boys clutching logs of wood and cane sticks accosted him, demanding for money. Shouting in Igbo language, one of them said: “Nwokem nye anyi ife anyi ozigbo, meaning, Mr, give us our thing immediately.
The tricycle rider in annoyance told them that they should not disturb him since he just paid to their colleagues at Ochanja roundabout, a distance of about five poles to the particular spot they were. The rider’s comment was like a lit match stick thrown into a fuel container as the boys just angrily retorted. “Biko jide ya ebe ahu, onye gwalu gi na obu ndi otu anyi no ebe ahu. Meaning, enough of that, who told you that the group you ‘settled’ is the same as ours.
In a moment, a scuffle ensued and blood started flowing as the boys had used the log of wood in their hands to break the cyclist’s head after snatching some naira notes from his pocket. Surprisingly, no one intervened as the boys suddenly disappeared from the scene only to regroup later.
From Upper Iweka to Creek Road, Fegge area of Onitsha, another driver of a Hiace Dyna truck loaded with building materials was heading towards Modebe roundabout when another group of boys ran to him to collect cash in exchange for a receipt with the inscription: OH MPA Consultancy, Anambra State Government. The driver also hesitated to pay, explaining that he had earlier paid and collected receipts from four different groups from Bridge Head Timber Market to the spot but the boys would take no explanation.
As the driver moved the vehicle, the boys jumped into the back and began removing pieces of wood in exchange for the money the driver refused to part with. As they were throwing the woods on the ground, the next throw landed on the windscreen of a Toyota Avalon car coming behind the truck, shattering the windscreen to pieces.
Before the driver of the damaged vehicle could pull to a stop, the boys had jumped down from the truck and taken to their heels.
Army of occupation
The two scenario replicated here are just samplers on the activities of touts, youth groups, pseudo militant organisations and criminal entities that have held major cities in Onitsha, Nkpor, Obosi, Ihiala, Awka and Nnewi, all in Anambra State by the jugular in recent times.
To put it mildly, Anambra State is under siege and the people are bleeding profusely from the menace of some elements who milk the citizens dry , extort money by force in the name of internally generated revenue for the state government and divert such into private coffers.
Some analysts have described the trend as the latest business in town that yields money like oil exploration venture. The only thing required to kick start the business is just having a heart for harassing people and withstanding resistance. Printing of fake receipts, arming oneself with logs of wood, canes, jack knife, ability to get high on drugs (alcohol and Indian hemp) and getting the backing of somebody connected with those in power in the state. Once the above conditions are met, business starts in earnest and the businessman only needs to station himself in one corner of any market, road junction or bye pass and money will be raked in from drivers, Okada riders, keke riders and anybody carrying personal loads.
Investigation by Sunday Sun revealed that the major actors in the big swindle include members of the outlawed Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), another splinter group from MASSOB known as A1YO ( Association of Igbo Youths Organisation), Ogbaru Youths, popularly known as Ndi Ukwu Aziza, Obosi Youths, Onitsha Ado Youths etc.
A city bleeding in the hands of lawless groups
In Fegge area, Onitsha South Local Governmnet Area, residents and business owners are passing through hell under the terror of the lawless groups. Investigations by Sunday Sun revealed that for the people of this area, packing into a new apartment, sucking of sewage, offloading containers, and construction of stalls and sit-outs attract an unofficial fee ranging from N5,000 to N25,000. Offering any resistance is at the risk of losing one’s teeth, getting one’s head broken or summary abduction.
A resident in the area, Chukwudum Thomas, while bemoaning their plight, told Sunday Sun said that even hair dressers , artisans and road side barbers pay money to the group of boys or face brutality.
“On Friday last week, these boys entered the hairdressing salon of a woman at Oraukwu Street in Fegge here with machetes and axes. They forcefully made away with her N12, 000 and two handsets. Not only that, my son was a victim too. I sent him to buy kerosene around 7pm on Saturday, and two boys sent by their commander snatched his handset and N1000 in his possession and beat him up. When I went to ask them why, they demanded N10, 000 from me otherwise, I will leave Fegge for them. I no longer sleep in my house now out of fear,” he said.
The reporter also gathered that the boys assemble daily at a demolished structure along Silas Works Road, Fegge from where their boss posts them to several parts of the town for the day’s extortion business. Some are positioned within the Onitsha Main Market, Johnson Street by Bright Street and others within Ochanja roundabout, Okwei Junction, Niger Street and all other exit routes within Fegge axis.
Inside the Onitsha Main Market is a competition of extortions as anyone conveying even a small carry -on bag must pay. The boys are stationed within Johnson Street by Sokoto Road junction, Jaguar Plaza, Pam – Pam Lane, Ezeolisa Street , Kano Street / Haruna, Mosque area / Bida Street .
One of the traders in the market simply identified as Kenneth in a chat with the reporter painted a grim situation of things in the area.
“This is the largest market in West Africa and you could imagine the kind of people trooping into this place daily for goods and services but the scenario is not a healthy development for those of us trading here and even our customers coming from outside. For us, we suffer untold hardship from our market leaders and we don’t have any option. We pay N450 per head every three months for security and we don’t know how much they generate and how many people they recruited for security. We also pay N300 per shop as sanitation levy but we dispose refuse on our own. Then we suffer extortion with our customers because they collect it by force from all of us in all these nooks and crannies,” he lamented.
The activities of Ogbaru youths and lamentations of keke riders
The Ogbaru Youths popularly known as Ndi Ukwu Aziza (the broom bundle) is another group whose activities leave much to be desired. While they allegedly issue all manner of receipts and collect tolls from people, they routinely stage public shows at Uga Junction beside Mobil filling station and Bridge Head where they brandish cutlasses and axes striking them on the floor and in the air, invoking fear in the hearts of all roadside traders and everybody within the area. Some people urinate in their pants while their show goes on while many begin to count their losses when they leave since some would sustain injuries, as many would still lose cash while others have their goods destroyed.
For this group, their major victims are the tricycle operators. An angry Keke rider narrated to the reporter how they were made to cough out all they toil for in the day to settle the boys.
“Those of us that ply from Obodo Ukwu Road in Ogbaru here to Upper Iweka down to Bridge Head in Onitsha go through at least 25 tolls paying amounts ranging from N50 to N250 per toll to criminal groups who operate under different pretexs.
We pay it this way: Obodo Ukwu Road/ Atani Road N150, Obodukwu Road/ Ede Road N150, Ogbaru Relief Market NI50, Aba Park by Upper Iweka N150, Onitsha flyover top N150, Down flyover N150, Upper Iweka / Ekeson Park( three toll points) N150 each , Uga Junction / Onitsha – Enugu Expressway N150, Onitsha Niger Bridge Head (manned by Ogbaru Youths and three other groups )
“They also force us to pay another N100 in the evening which they say is for Chairman’s feeding while there is another group that gives us a small piece of carton and collects N100 excluding the ones that collect money and use marker pen to inscribe on our tricycle as proof of payment for the day.”
Some of the receipts/ tickets obtained by Sunday Sun from a tricycle operator bear no address, phone numbers or verifiable links to the real owners of the extortion business.
They included- All routes motor ticket, Government of Anambra State, ASWAMA in collaboration with OH! NPA company, Tricycle Welfare ticket, ATOODAS AOWAN KNOWAAS TICKET, Anambra State Government OBYHANS NIGERIA LTD ACCREDITED AGENT among others .
Other groups involved in this business from further investigations included Onitsha Ado Youths and Nkpor Youths. The youths engage in forceful collection of daily tolls from roadside petty traders while they divide themselves into various groups. A trader may end up paying more than eight different groups in one day. Any resistance from the market women results in instant confiscation of the person’s goods and a visit to their office attracts stiffer penalties.
In Obosi area, the youths have already formed a shadow government where all commercial vehicles passing through the community must pay tolls ranging from N200 to N1000. Permanently stationed along the hilly parts of Akaora junction and Urowullu, punishment for an uncooperative driver is breaking of side mirrors or confiscation of some goods in transit. Private and commercial motorcyclists are also not spared as they are harassed into parting with money unless the rider purchases a rider’s permit at the cost of N1000.
Government loses N20 billion to touts
Commenting on the situation, the Deputy State Coordinator, National Committee Against Touting, Anambra State Command, Okwudili Ohanoneze in a chat with Sunday Sun regretted that undesirable elements have long held various revenue windows of the state captive thereby causing serious revenue loss to the state government.
“In retrospect, the state was blinded for many years and lost over N10 billion to then National Union of Road Transport workers who managed the motor parks and bus stops in the state without remitting any money to the state coffers. The National Association of Road Transport Owners ( NARTO) also came on board and denied the state government sizeable revenue for six years and over N4 billion was also lost to NARTO escapades in the state. The good news was that when the Obi administration came in, he privatized parks and accruable revenue from the motor parks contributed over N10 million monthly to the government purse. But the motor parks that are yielding the amount of money are being threatened by touts and hoodlums denying government additional N6 billion revenue accruable to them. It is time for the Obiano administration to tackle the situation holistically so that there will be sanity,” he said.
Anambra State Government declares war on hoodlums
Apparently irked by the ugly scenario of the activities of illegal youth groups and criminal entities, the Anambra State Government has declared total war against all forms of criminality plaguing the state.
In a chat with Sunday Sun, the outgoing Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Chief Joe Martins Uzodike said the government is determined to enthrone a new order. He said the Obi administration started the process of handling such anomalies by banning and proscribing all such youth bodies while the Obiano administration in the spirit of continuity has taken it a notch higher by confronting the situation headlong.
He acknowledged that the activities of all those groups were discussed at the state executive council meeting and a decision taken to handle the situation. Chief Uzodike noted that the residents of Fegge were safe as the people holding them captive had been dislodged while the special joint task force team set up by the Obiano administration would continue to work until sanity prevailed everywhere. He advised all criminally minded people to turn a new leaf or relocate since nobody would be spared.
Source: Sun
