The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ‘extortion

  • That extortion by Aero Contractors  

    Sir: I wish to draw the attention of the Consumer Protection Agency to the continuous rip-off of customers being perpetrated by Aero Contractors airline.

    Aero Contractors has this obnoxious charge of N160 per booking if the passenger is to receive notification of cancelled or rescheduled flights. Is this fair?

    From what we all know, flights have both fixed departure date and time and if an airline like Aero Contractors decides on their own to either reschedule or cancel the flight under whatever guise, must the passenger pay for this?

    The issue of the N160 for text message not being compulsory does not arise as without paying this, the passenger will never get to be informed of the flight change whereas flight cancellations or rescheduling comes at great inconvenience to the passenger.

    I expect the Consumer Protection Agency to not only get Aero Contractors to stop the practice, but to refund to all passengers the money so illegally extorted.

     

     • Donas Ofoka,

    Lagos

     

  • Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    An inter-state commercial bus driver has accused some policemen and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) of collecting N10,500 from him for not having a “Lagos State driver’s licence.”

    He claimed the incident occurred about 7am last Saturday around Cappa bus stop on the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.

    The driver’s 18-seater white Toyota commercial bus was heading for Benin, the Edo State capital, when he was allegedly arrested with his passengers.

    To operate in Lagos, commercial vehicle drivers are required to go through the drivers’ institute to obtain the driver permit.

    The owner will take the permit along with any other documents for the national driver’s licence.

    The driver, who simply identified himself as Chris, was arrested by the LASTMA officials led by a policeman identified simply as Friday with Force Number, 246623 and taken to Ilupeju Bypass where he was allegedly extorted.

    He said: “They demanded my Lagos State driver’s licence and I told them I did not have. I even told them that I had never heard about the existence of such, but they insisted, saying that if they should impound my bus and take it to their station, I would pay N100,000 before it would be released.

    “While the argument was going on, the passengers in my bus were complaining, advising me to settle them so that our journey to Edo State would not be delayed. I still did not want to comply but when the pressure from my passengers became so much, I had to negotiate with them and we finally agreed on N10,500.

    “It was the policeman that collected the money from me. I do not know when Lagos State introduced their own driver’s licence and which law says if a driver does not have it, he won’t ply Lagos roads. Governor Babatunde Fashola must address this issue”.

    LASTMA spokesperson, Bola Ajao said the allegation would be investigated, adding: “In LASTMA, we don’t condone indiscipline. We will act on this allegation.”

  • Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    Driver accuses police, agency of extortion over ‘Lagos licence’

    •‘We’re probing his allegation’

    An inter-state commercial bus driver has accused some policemen and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) of collecting N10,500 from him for not having a “Lagos State driver’s licence.”

    He claimed the incident occurred about 7am last Saturday around Cappa bus stop on the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.

    The driver’s 18-seater white Toyota commercial bus was heading for Benin, the Edo State capital, when he was allegedly arrested with his passengers.

    To operate in Lagos, commercial vehicle drivers are required to go through the drivers’ institute to obtain the driver permit.

    The owner will take the permit along with any other documents for the national driver’s licence.

    The driver, who simply identified himself as Chris, was arrested by the LASTMA officials led by a policeman identified simply as Friday with Force Number, 246623 and taken to Ilupeju Bypass where he was allegedly extorted.

    He said: “They demanded my Lagos State driver’s licence and I told them I did not have. I even told them that I had never heard about the existence of such, but they insisted, saying that if they should impound my bus and take it to their station, I would pay N100,000 before it would be released.

    “While the argument was going on, the passengers in my bus were complaining, advising me to settle them so that our journey to Edo State would not be delayed. I still did not want to comply but when the pressure from my passengers became so much, I had to negotiate with them and we finally agreed on N10,500.

    “It was the policeman that collected the money from me. I do not know when Lagos State introduced their own driver’s licence and which law says if a driver does not have it, he won’t ply Lagos roads. Governor Babatunde Fashola must address this issue”.

    LASTMA spokesperson, Bola Ajao said the allegation would be investigated, adding: “In LASTMA, we don’t condone indiscipline. We will act on this allegation.”

  • JTF, maritime workers trade words over extortion

    JTF, maritime workers trade words over extortion

    MARITIME workers in Bayelsa State yesterday accused the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield of extorting money from speedboat operators along the waterways.

    But JTF disagreed with the workers, describing the allegation as unfounded and untrue.

    The Maritime Workers Union (MWU) further accused the police of extortion and harassment of its members.

    The workers alleged that operatives of JTF and the police had made lives difficult for indigenes of coastal communities through extortion.

    They alleged that the security agents were forcibly collecting between N5,000 and N6,000 from them.

    MWU’s chairman, Mr. Lyod Sese, described the rising cases of extortion from boat operators by security personnel as alarming.

    He said the development was common along the waterways of Southern Ijaw, Nembe, Ogbia and Brass Local Government Areas.

    “If the boat operators refuse to pay, the boats are subtly delayed until compliance is effected,” he said.

    He listed Ogboibiri checkpoint in Southern Ijaw, Agip Oil flow-station at Brass and Nembe checkpoint manned by soldiers as “extortion point”.

    He said: “The duty of the soldiers is to protect oil facilities and installations but they have resorted to extorting money from boat operators along Apoi/Bassan and Yenagoa routes.

    “The soldiers and marine policemen accused boat operators of charges ranging from non-compliance with availability of first aid boxes, fire extinguisher and operation permits just to collect money from them”.

    But the Media Coordinator, JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the “JTF is a responsible outfit not cut out for such inglorious acts as alleged by the workers”.

    He said: “No doubt, we have our troops in the Niger Delta waterways. We have always said that anybody who finds our troops doing untoward things should report to us.

    “We learnt that the maritime workers want to increase their fares. If they want to do so, they should not blackmail our outfit to gain cheap publicity.

    “When members of the maritime workers paid a courtesy visit to our commander, they exchanged phone contacts.

    “We should expect that if there was any case of extortion, they should have reported to us. But spreading unfounded rumour is not accepted by us.

    He added: “We have given the leadership of the state maritime union the needed cooperation and we informed them that if they had a case of alleged indiscipline of soldiers, they should come forward with the name of the officer and the alleged misconduct.

    “We don’t tolerate indiscipline. Why should they attribute the extortion to soldiers? I don’t believe our men are involved. There are many other security agencies in the region’s waterways and creeks.”

     

  • Extortion by another name

    Extortion by another name

    LAST week, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, took steps to ensure stricter regulation of the generator-import trade with the publication of the ‘Guidelines for obtaining Clearance Certificate for the importation of generating sets and related matters’.

    Among its many highlights, one that perhaps stands out is the new regime of levies imposed on different categories of imported generators. Henceforth, a unit of 100KVA generator would attract a N25,000 levy; those between 25kva and 100kva – N3,500. For the smaller generators with capacities ranging between 5kva and 25kva, theirs is a levy of N1,000; and for those between 2.5kva and 5kva, it is N250; even those between 0.45 Kva and 2.5 Kva are not left out; theirs is a levy of N150.

    NERC also set the fee for the renewal of import licenses at 10 per cent of the fee paid on the initial certificate.

    The guidelines, according to NERC chairman, Sam Amadi, cover every import from fully assembled generators to knocked-down parts, either for domestic assembly or retail as spares. To qualify for generator-import license, NERC expects importers to submit annual report of generating sets or knocked-down parts imported by them in the last 12 months. The report is expected to cover details about capacity and the number sold.

    Considering the lack of regulation in the trade, the new guidelines would seem inevitable. And, to the extent that the country has today become a huge dumping ground for all kinds of generators, with scant considerations for quality and environmental standards, such measures are most welcome to sanitise that sub-sector of our foreign trade.

    But the more fundamental question is whether the NERC guidelines are altogether altruistic – borne of concerns for safety, consumer interest or the environment. This is very much in doubt. Indeed, it seems driven more by revenue than anything else. To start with, the much we know is that the responsibility for enforcing quality and environmental standards does not reside with NERC – that responsibility, with due respect, lies with another agency – the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    What does the measure seek to achieve? To discourage importation of generators? If it is – we consider it flawed – to put it mildly. The point to note here is that generator-trade didn’t become big business in the country because Nigerians love the purring of their generators; or that they hated the inept Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Nigeria became the world’s leading importer of generators because the government failed to guarantee public power supply. For the power-starved citizens forced to purchase generators, either for business or pleasure, the levy amounts to double jeopardy –in the event of being forced to pay additional costs without guarantees of improved public power supply. Perhaps, only NERC can afford to revel in the folly of imagining that the levy is a disincentive to the trade without the government seriously addressing the demand-supply gap.

    Much as NERC needs funds to run its operations, we do not think that the way to go is the extortionate path that seeks to take from the citizens in return for nothing. The idea that NERC can impose just about any levy because it has the powers to do so – without considerations for what is fair, equitable and just, is wrong. Nigerians didn’t ask to be rid of their corrupt and inept PHCN only to find themselves in the bosom of an inconsiderate regulator. It would be a good idea for NERC to shelve the levy until when electricity consumers are availed the clear choice in public electricity supply. At this time, it is still premature.

  • FRSC’s new number plates is extortion

    SIR: On March 24, 2011, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) announced the introduction of a new set of Drivers licence and vehicle number plates.

    One of the reasons adduced was that the new plate numbers would assist security agencies to tackle the challenges of national security. While the motive seems laudable, the pursuit of national security is, with due respect, not part of the mandate of FRSC. It would be tantamount to pure naiveté to think that terrorist acts will only be carried out using cars that have been registered.

    If the government is serious about counter-terrorism and information gathering, it should do so in a way that encompasses all Nigerians whether or not they possess motor vehicles. The new number plate is disappointingly without any security attachment or difference from the old one whatsoever apart from its reordering of the characters and addition of colours. The material used is not even different talk less of a tracking device to be attached to it. It is highly unfortunate that this is what the Corps Marshall and his team want Nigerians to swallow hook line and sinker.

    If the genuine aspiration of the FRSC was to build a verifiable and reliable information system of all vehicles in Nigeria, I dare say that they would have been able to do this in the past one year. All that would be needed is simply ensuring that every vehicle that has its papers renewed are properly registered in the information system and then the checkpoints on the highways can check cars whose papers haven’t been renewed.

    The same applied to the drivers’ licence. Why demand that every driver renew their licences with the same deadline of October 1, when each of those licenses have their different expiry dates?

    By February 2014, the announcement of the new driver’s licence would have been three years, the same period within which the validity of the present driver’s licence lapses. If the new licences had been issued to first time drivers and those renewing since then, majority of the drivers in Nigeria would be carrying the new licence by now. This simply points to the fact that even after announcing a new drivers licence, FRSC continued to issue the old ones!

    As of today, the new plate numbers cost nothing less than N20,000 and as much as N40,000 in some cases. This is at least a 100% increase against the “N10000 Standard Replacement fee” promised by FRSC Corps Marshall, Osita Chidoka. The FRSC is now coming round to say that only the plates will cost N10,000 while other registration costs would be “decided by the state VIO and Joint Tax Board”. Why did he not announce this at the inception of introduction of the policy? This is barefaced deception.

    Some years ago, car owners were compelled to acquire a plastic device tagged “encoding”. To my knowledge, no one I know ever had the validity of their vehicle licensces checked through that device; it simply became useless and the government gave no explanation as to why that happened. Today it’s the new drivers’ licence and new number plates which have a curious manner of implementation. It smacks of extortion and insensitivity from a government which Nigerians expect so much and has delivered so little. Nigerians cannot continue to be handled like subjects; we are citizens and demand that our government be accountable to us.

     

    • Adekunle Adedoyin

    Mbora, Abuja

     

  • ACN warns against extortion of contractors

    The Action Congress of Nigeria, (A C N), has condemned the harassment and extortion of contractors working in various parts of Lagos by communities and area boys. This, the A C N said, was inimical to the growth and progress of the state.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe, the party expressed worries over persistent complaints of increasing harassment and extortion of contractors handling roads,drainage,bridges by communities in collaboration with street urchins.

    “In recent times, we have been receiving worrying reports of unrestrained harassment by contractors working for the Lagos State government; that host communities where they are working are putting undue pressure and impediments on their works and this has got to a stage that government projects are stalled as a result of the inability of contractors to meet the indecent demands of the host communities,” Igbokwe said.

    He added: “An agency of the Lagos State government in charge of optic fibre technology has reported consistent running battles with communities, area boys, Community DevelopmentAssociations (CDAs), resident associations, estates and even prominent Lagos residents that impede on its works in their areas, which involve laying of facilities for improved network, until certain fees are negotiated and paid.

    ” We have a letter from the Magodo Residents’ Association to the Telecoms Infrastructure Development Limited, a contractor handling the laying of fiber optic cables for MTN Nigeria. The Magodo Residents’ Association is demanding N500,000 for work permit to lay fibre optic cables in the state.”

    “Lagos ACN warns those engaged in this act to desist henceforth as the government is taking due cognizance of this and will come down hard on any group or community sabotaging the realization of the lofty dreams of the Lagos State government for Lagosians,”the party warns.

  • UNIBEN lecturer arrested for ‘extortion’

    A senior lecturer at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) has been arrested on the orders of the university’s management for allegedly extorting money from students.

    The senior lecturer was arrested after he allegedly collected marked money from a female student.

    Sources said the senior lecturer is an Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Law. He represents the faculty in a committee set up to coordinate students’ inter-faculty movement every session.

    It was gathered that the lecturer was arrested by the security unit after which it was discovered that the lecturer belonged to a syndicate specialising in extortion of students.

    The female student was said to be studying English in the Faculty of Arts and wanted to change to the Faculty of Law.

    She was reportedly asked to pay N150,000 by the lecturer before her request could be approved.

    Another lecturer was said to have encouraged her to report the matter.

    The student reportedly played along and pleaded to be allowed to pay N100,000, which was agreed to by the lecturer.

    It was gathered that as the student was about to pay the money into an account, the lecturer called her phone and asked her to deliver the money in his office.

    The lecturer was arrested after he collected the marked money and was handed over to the police.

    A source said:“When his (lecturer’s) office was searched, security personnel discovered a list containing 18 names, including the female student’s.’’

    The institution’s spokesman, Harrison Osarenren, confirmed the incident.

    Osarenren said: “The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Osayuki Oshodi, has applauded the team that exposed this syndicate.

    “The lecturer will be arraigned in court soon.’’

  • New driver’s licence: FRSC warns officials against extortion

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Oyo State Command, yesterday inaugurated the new National Commercial Driver’s Licence in Ibadan, the state capital.

    It said the commission has put machinery in place to ensure the smooth issuance of the new licence to the three million commercial drivers in the state.

    Many commercial drivers had expressed fears on the issuance of the new driver’s license, which would begin next month.

    The Sector Commander, Mr. Godwin Ogagaoghene, warned his men and those of other agencies against extorting commercial drivers over the issuance of new driver’s licence.

    He said commercial drivers are expected to obtain forms, go for eye and other tests before they can be issued the new licence.

    Ogagaoghene warned drivers against bribing FRSC officials.

    He said commercial drivers have to undergo more tests than private drivers because they have more responsibilities.

    Ogagaoghene said seven centres have been opened for the issuance of the new licence but only two were functioning.

    The centres include Onireke, state secretariat, Atiba, Eruwa, Saki and Ogbomoso.

    Ogagaoghene said: “I assure you (commercial drivers) of the readiness of the FRSC to ensure the smooth issuance of the new driver’s licence, despite its challenges.”

    Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) urged the FRSC to open more centres to ensure easy issuance of the licence.

    They urged the commission to open a centre at the NURTW State Secretariat.

     

  • Reps accuse ministry of extortion

    Few days after calling for her sack over the N396 billion shortfall in the Ecological Fund deductions, there was another drama yesterday between the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia and the House Committee on Environment.

    The committee said officials of the ministry allegedly extort money from contractors before giving them contract papers and taking them to sites.

    Speaking at the budget defence session of the ministry yesterday at the National Assembly, the committee chairperson, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, said there had been complaints from various quarters on the procurement and award processes of the ministry.

    She alleged that contractors were made to pay bribes after winning contracts from the ministry before they were shown their sites.

    Mrs Ekwunife said: “We want to know if you do partial procurement or full procurement. We also want to know why these contractors must pay money before they are given their papers and taken to site.

    “I just remembered that contractors would not go to sites unless they pay certain amounts of money. “

    But the minister, who was upset by the allegation, said there was no room for such in her ministry.

    She said: “Contractors do not pay money. I am not aware of such a practice. It must be a kind of relationship which I’m not aware of.

    “And that is what I’m talking about- we have people who are coming in to bastardise the process.

    “Any contractor who has paid money before he is taken to site, I think it would help us to know who he paid to and why he paid the money.

    “If you go and pay, we should be told who paid and why he paid. Madam, I’m not aware that any contractor is paying money.”

    Members of the committee enjoined Mrs. Mailafia not to discard the allegation but to investigate it.

    “It’s absolutely wrong and we would investigate,” she answered.

    According to the minister, N27, 248,454, 420.00 was approved for the ministry, its corporations and agencies in 2012, but that challenges of “ natural occurrences and emergencies, lack of engineering drawing for introduced projects, debts to local contractors and outstanding liabilities were drawbacks to its implementation.

    “The Ministry of Finance has allocated N21.1 billion in 2013,” she said.

    The lawmakers said although the 2012 budget of the ministry was approved without alteration; the performance of the ministry was less than expected.

    According to the lawmakers, with just a few weeks to the end of the fiscal year the ministry is still awarding contracts.

    They noted that the ministry is being plagued by abandoned projects, gross inefficiency in monitoring of projects, incompetent contractors and internally generated revenue that is not at par with global best practices.

    The lawmakers also pointed out various discrepancies in the 2012 budget implementation and the proposed 2013 budget.

    “We want to give you the mandate to restructure the procurement department with immediate effect.”