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Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Hundreds of travellers from Asaba in Delta State to neighbouring Onitsha in Anambra State were yesterday, stranded at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge following a protest by commercial bus drivers.
The protest was due to alleged hike in the levy by Anambra State Transport Authorities known as ‘Award Levy’.
The levy is said to be compulsory for all commercial buses entering Onitsha.
Some of the passengers had to embark on trekking long distances to get to their destinations due to the protest that lasted several hours.
Chairman of Asaba and Onitsha Bus Unit, Chukwujindu Okeleke, said the new levy of N1,600 and N400 loading fee breaches an agreement signed in 2011.
He said the same issue came up in 2011 but was resolved amicably with an agreement reached between both sides, adding that commercial bus operators from Delta State are being molested.
Okeleke vowed that until the new levies are reversed, buses coming from Asaba will stop at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge.
He said despite several petitions written through the Anambra Ministry of Transport, nothing has been done to address their plight.
“We are not protesting, we have decided that we will not drive into Onitsha because of high exploitative levy by ‘agberos’ in Anambra. They beat our drivers for refusing to pay a levy that is not in the agreement reached in 2011.
“We have summoned them to a meeting, but they shunned the meeting. We have put up a petition through the Ministry of Transport but they have remained uncooperative,” he said.
Okeleke accused a cabal to be responsible for the arbitrary levy which he claimed negated the agreement reached in 2011.
“In 2011, when this same issue came up, the agreement states that when you pay N600 per day, subsequent payments are charged only for loading, that is N200 which is 10 percent of 10 passengers which is N2,000.
“They have breached the agreement with us. I have had a lot of compliance from the drivers and I have decided to take this action. We want one pay point instead of this arbitrary collection from several parks,” he said.
