From Felix Ikem, Nsukka and Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Commercial bus drivers plying the Enugu Ugwogo-Opi Nsukka road, yesterday, blocked the Opi-Agu section of the road with their vehicles in protest against the renewed kidnapping of motorists on the road.
The protest, which started about 7:30am, left hundreds of road users stranded for over three hours, as the drivers were bent on drawing the attention of the authorities to the ugly incidents on the road.
The drivers sang solidarity songs as they marched along the road, bearing placards with different inscriptions, such as; “Enugu Ugwogo-Opi Nsukka road is kidnappers den”; “Government secure our roads and protect the lives of your citizens against kidnappers”; “Drivers and passengers are being kidnapped for ransom daily along Enugu Ugwogo-Opi Nsukka road” and “Enough is enough, this kidnapping must stop!”, among others.
Addressing newsmen, one of the coordinators of the commercial Sienna drivers, Mr. Chukwudi Offia, said they decided to block the road to draw the attention of the authorities to the plight of motorists plying the road.
“The incessant cases of kidnapping activities along this road have degenerated to an alarming stage. There is an urgent need for quick intervention because this Enugu Ugwogo-Opi Nsukka road is very strategic and one of the busiest roads in Enugu State.
“Just last week, there were about seven cases of kidnapping activities that took place in different sections of the road, despite the presence of military and police checkpoints along the road,” he said.
Speaking further, Offia, who noted that some of their drivers were victims of the kidnapping activities, lamented that the situation has affected their daily income, as the number of passengers applying the road has reduced drastically.
“The situation is affecting us; this road is so unsafe, so scary that the kidnappers would just emerge from the bush and start shooting directly at our vehicles to stop us and carry out their nefarious activities. Three of our drivers who were recently kidnaped had to pay through their noses to secure their freedom. Passengers are now scared to board our vehicles and travel through the road, and this has reduced our daily income.
“These criminal elements are inside the bush, the multiple checkpoints on the road cannot solve the problem, so we want the security agents to deploy all their arsenals to the bush and fish out the criminals,” he said.
Also speaking, a transporter, Hon. Cosmas Agbo, who said he escaped the kidnappers by a whisker, last Wednesday, lamented that the kidnapping activity is happening on the road on a daily basis in between two military checkpoints along the road.
“It is regrettable that human beings are being kidnapped and ransomed daily, jeopardising the economic return of those who ply their trades along the road. I advocate that the Enugu State government should adopt a new approach in solving this problem, by reactivating and motivating the forest guards to guard our forests against the rampaging kidnappers,” he said.
Agbo, however, called on the 10th National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, pass the bill on community and state policing, stressing that security should be a local thing.
A passenger, Monday Eze, who was traveling to Abuja, said the passengers were stranded for hours, as the protesting drivers insisted on drawing the attention of the authorities to their plight. The road was cleared for smooth flow of vehicles after Mr. Allen Evison, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Eha-Alumona Police Division, addressed the protesting drivers on the efforts they were making to arrest the situation.
The Enugu Ugwogo-Opi Nsukka road witnessed high cases of abduction of travellers for ransom last year, which prompted the government to heighten security along the road.
Confirming the protest, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Peter Mbah on New Media, Reuben Onyishi, assured road users of their safety on the road, adding that no new case of kidnapping was recorded on the road.
“The true position was that commercial Siena drivers converged on Opi-Nsukka with placards, protesting the cases of kidnapping that took place on the road last week.
“They were addressed by the DPO of Umabo Police Station, Eha-Alumona Nsukka, this morning, who explained to them the security measures that had been put in place, and which had successfully cleared the road of kidnappers. Thereafter, they dispersed and went about their businesses.
“He also encouraged residents to disregard the claims by ‘mischief makers’ on assignment to scare commuters that kidnappers were on the road. The road is safe as a joint team of the military, police and forest guards patrol the road and the bushes. Let no one be scared. Opi-Ugwuogo road is safe as the Enugu State government has adequately contained any form of insecurity on the road,” he said.