SIEGE ON S’EAST: Security agents build trillion-naira extortion industry at checkpoints
..Road users groan as travel time triples amid intimidation
..Insecurity on the rise despite occupation –Group
BY ORIAKU IJELE (with additional reports by Voice of the East)
Motorists using major highways in the S’East zone of the country have once again raised concerns over their nightmarish experiences in the hands of security personnel deployed by the various agencies to man the numerous checkpoints, which were launched during the Muhammadu Buhari administration to curtail the excesses of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Rather than the presence of these security officers becoming a relief, it has turned to a thorn in the flesh of the citizens as reports of extortion, intimidation, harassment and in some instances, cold murder, have become the order of the day.
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Sunday Times gathered that for short distances covering 100km, as many as 25 to 30 checkpoints could be counted, availing the officers the opportunities to demand bribes, estimated at trillions of naira annually.
As at last weekend, commuters who used the Onitsha Enugu road counted many checkpoints littered along the way. A rough guide at the location of checkpoints in Anambra State alone shows that there are checkpoints in the following locations:
- Awkuzu Junction army
- Awkuzu Junction FRSC
- Dunukofia LG hqts police
- Enugu ukwu Junction police
- Amawbia Junction police
- Unizik Junction army
- Mopol base Awka Junction police
- Prince and Princess hostel front army
- Amansea boundary police
- Ugwuoba boundary police
- Ugwuoba bridge police team
- Ugwuoba Junction army
- Ugwuoba Junction NDLEA
- Ugwuoba Junction FRSC
- Ugwuoba Central army
- Oji river Junction army 1
- Oji River Junction army 2
- Ezeagu express army
- Near Nkwo ezeagu police
- Near tiles factory police
- Umumba Ndiuno express police 1
- Umumba Ndiuno express police 2
- Nude express (approach to ninth mile) police
- Ngwo express army
- Ngwo express anti terror squad
- Onyeama Hill (near refuse dump) army
- Onyeama Hill (near coal mine) army
- Abakpa interchange police
- Abakpa Junction FRSC
Has the preponderance of checkpoints on the way helped to curb criminality in the region? A public affairs analyst, Uche Nworah said, “There are even more checkpoints when travelling from Lagos, Sagamu through Ore,Benin to Onitsha especially during d festive season! And it’s also a fact that despite this line up of security men on highways , kidnapping and killings by non-state actors are even more prevalent in the whole of the South East than ever before in the south east!
It’s well known that apart from fighting crime, this route is very lucrative for men in uniform!”
Worried by the spate of this menace, a group under the aegis, Igbo National Council (INC) Worldwide had revealed that about 98 security checkpoints exist in the five states of the Southeast region.
The press statement said that the research was carried out by the directorate of human rights protection, a research department of the council with the mandate of checking human rights violations by various security outfits in the region.
It further stated that the council was propelled to embark on the task following a series of reports from members of the public on the humiliations they were encountering in the hands of the security personnel on a daily basis.
Godsent further stated in the press statement that some of the checkpoints are manned by a joint task force, comprising the military, police and civil defense, while at some blockades it will be either the military or the police.
He stated that even though the group was not happy with the rate of insecurity in the region, the security operatives should carry out their operations with human face.
The group pointed out that if the security personnel kept to rules of their professional engagement, it would build a healthy relationship between them and the civilians who also have responsibility of helping the security outfits in the fight against criminalities.
Sunday Times gathered also that the inhuman treatment being meted to travellers are also worsening with the security agencies sometimes forcing the travellers to walk appreciable distances unmindful of their state of health and age.
