Tag: motorists

These days,  vehicles and motorcycles are blocked in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital by men in white and green T-shirts, with “Rivers State Government” boldly written at the back. They claim to be checking wrong parking, without having identity cards. They are in the habit of impounding vehicles and driving it to an expansive yard on the site of the new Rivers State School of Nursing, directly opposite the old University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

Quite unfortunately, the school of nursing, which could not be completed by the Rotimi Amaechi administration has now been turned into a den for illegal acts.

The old UPTH was demolished by the Amaechi’s government, with the construction of Mothers and Children Hospital started at the site by the administration, but could not be completed till the end of the tenure on May 29, 2015.

The yard for seized vehicles and motorcycles (school of nursing, Port Harcourt) now has many shanties, with the uncompleted buildings also turned to barracks/accommodation by many policemen, civilians and miscreants, with the bushy environment becoming an eyesore, while many teenage girls having little children litter the yard.

While Niger Delta Report was at the yard from 9:30 a.m. on undercover investigation to 8:30 p.m., the hoodlums and their friends were freely smoking Indian hemp, taking hard drugs and drinking alcohol, while claiming to be on duty.

Besides seizing vehicles, the mindless and rough-looking youths also harass commercial vehicle drivers over stickers and hackney permit, while attracting outrageous sums of money.

The vehicles-impounding squad is headed by a man identified as Boma, whose wife has a liquor shop in one of the shanties in the yard.

Once vehicles and motorcycles are towed/moved into the yard, behind the popular Sharks Stadium, the tyres would be deflated, keys seized by the miscreants and demand of money from N45,000 would be made, without receipts/booking documents, thereby confirming the hoodlums’ illegalities.

For the fear of losing their vehicles to armed robbers or to prevent them from being vandalised before daybreak, contacts would then be made through the telephone by the victims, for their colleagues, relatives, friends and associates to assist in raising the money, which might be as high as N100,000 or more, before the keys of vehicles/motorcycles would be released, making the yard to always contain many impounded vehicles and motorcycles.

Victims would then begin another round of agony of pumping the tyres, with many vulcanisers on standby, but charging N500 per tyre, instead of the usual N50, under normal circumstance.

Investigation also revealed that from the N500 for pumping each tyre, the vulcaniser would only get between N100 and N150, while the balance would go to the leaders of the hoodlums, which they would share every evening.

The last point of harassment, before impounded vehicles and motorcycles would be allowed to leave the premises was the main gate, where the usually-drunk gatemen would still insist on collecting N1,000, before opening the gate, claiming that the hoodlums would not share the collected “loot” with them.

Not minding the number of hours spent by the victims to plead with the terrible gatemen, exit would be denied, until they collected money.

While in the midst of the miscreants, with identity concealed, the ignorant hoodlums, unaware of who their employer was, claimed they were engaged by the Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, popularly called PHALGA, Hon. Christian Chiokwa, who insisted that he and his council were not aware of the activities of the criminals.

Chiokwa, through his spokesman, Mike Iwezor, noted that he, as a complete gentleman and a child of God, would never be part of illegal activities/engaging hoodlums, especially with his council having competent and committed officials/employees, saddled with the responsibility of legitimately collecting taxes and levies.

Shortly after a senior pastor’s car was towed into the yard, the cleric made some calls and wanted one of the secretaries to speak with the person on the other end, but the lady in her early 20s declined, while the pastor threatened to report the harassment to Governor Nyesom Wike, his friend, the secretary said: “Na the same Nyesom Wike we dey work for. Go ahead and report us. Nothing will happen,” and she walked away, ignoring the elderly cleric, who complained loudly that they had on the way to the yard, forcibly collected all the money he had on him.

A secondary school teacher was driving in highbrow D-Line (Direct Main Line), Port Harcourt, when his phone rang and he parked his car by the road side to answer the call, with the car’s hazard lights on, but Boma’s boys towed the car to their yard and accused the young tutor of obstructing traffic, forcing the teacher, who had just N2,000 on him, to contact relatives, who brought huge sum of money, which he refused to disclose, to avoid being trailed, before his car was granted “bail.”

There was also the case of senior employee of a popular company, who went to a first generation bank near the Federal High Court on Station Road, Port Harcourt to transfer money to his family in Lagos.

After the transaction at the bank, the easy-going man drove out and linked Station Road to return to his office in Mile One, Diobu in the Rivers State capital, not knowing that the ‘hoodlums’ in unmarked car behind, saw him as he drove out of the bank.

The top official continued driving, until he got to the ever-busy junction by Post Office Bus Stop and he decided to allow a car, whose driver had indicated that he wanted to enter the road to the Rivers state secretariat, while also slowing down to allow a police van coming from the Port Harcourt office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), near Government House, to pass.

Shortly after the imposing Spar Shopping Mall, the bandits blocked the car of the senior official, accused him of obstructing traffic, one of them took over the steering, while three others jumped into the car and insisted that they must drive it to their yard, which they did, with demand of N45,000 made, but the chief executive gave them the N5,000 on him, which they collected and refused to release the car, in spite of pleading from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., making him to return home without the car.

The ‘hoodlums’, who impounded the car, having earlier indicated that they were working for PHALGA chairman, the senior official simply contacted Chiokwa (the local government boss), who detailed top official of the local government to accompany the man to the yard, only to see Boma, a known face, whom the PHALGA official confirmed had been into touting and thuggery for many years.

In spite of the PHALGA’s official pleading with Boma to release the car, he was adamant and still insisted on collecting N45,000. The LG official then met with one of the sub-chairmen of the yard, who was well-known to him and who acted reasonably, thereby disclosing that Boma and others were working for the Rivers State Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning.

The ‘hoodlums’ told Boma that they saw the senior executive driving out of a bank and he should be able to afford the N45,000 demanded.

When it became obvious that Boma did not want to release the car, in spite of the intervention of the PHALGA’s official, the senior executive opted to contact top military chiefs at the newly-created 6th Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, to come and take the car by force, which one of the touts eavesdropped on and quickly ran to Boma to alert him as the PHALGA official and top executive of the renowned firm were driving out of the yard in the LG official’s car.

Boma jumped out of one of the shanties and ran to the road, asking the senior executive and the LG official to meet with one of his secretaries to pick the key of the impounded car.