March 9, 2017
By Ijendu Iheaka
The Tricycle Operators in Aba on Thursday blocked roads leading to Aba Town Hall and the town centre to protest N40.00 levy imposed on them by the Aba South Local Government Council.
The blocked roads took about two hours with the joint intervention of the Nigerian Army, the Police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to clear.
The operators refused to leave the road chanting songs like “We no go agree” until the Chairman, Abia State Amalgamated Tricycle Operators Association (ASATOA) Mr Eugene Job came to the scene.
Uba Onyenkwere, one of the operators who was at the scene when the trouble began spoke to our reporter in Aba.
“The problem began when I was stopped by staff of the Aba South local government and beaten for not having bought a new N40 ticket the council introduced”, he said.
He said that the council staff gave him the beating of his life for telling them that the ASATOA Chairman has not told them anything about the new ticket.
Onyenkwere said that the council staff invited the wrath of the tricycle operators who saw them rough handle him and other operators while confiscating six machines from the operators.
When our reporter sought the comment of the Aba South Council, some of the staff came and stopped the Deputy Chairman, Omenka Agbahiwe who wanted to talk on the matter from speaking to newsmen.
The ASATOA Mr Eugene Job after speaking with police, military and NSCDC personnel at the scene, later addressed the operators before they decongested the roads and stopped the protest.
Job said that the tricycle operators cannot accept the N40 levy from the local government warning the operators not to allow nobody defraud them in the name of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
He said “If the staff of the Aba South Local government wronged you by selling an unlawful ticket to you, apprehending you, beating you and tearing your clothes, I beg you in the name of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu and my name to forgive.
“I promise you that we have nothing to do with local government tickets for now. No one should bring local government tickets on the roads to cause problems for tricycle operators.
“I want to tell the Aba South LG Chairman that he is not in charge of tricycle operators and so should not impose any levy on tricycle operators to avoid crises. Nobody sent them.
‘From today, there is no more LG tickets. Go to work and be peaceful. We are on it and we will get this one right”, he said.
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