Abuja Metro

Fresh concerns over touts

By Fred Ezeh, Abuja

 

For some time now, touting and unnecessary road blockage by touts popularly known as agberos, especially at designated motor parks has drastically reduced in the heart of the Federal Capita Territory (FCT) Abuja. Vehicle owners were prevented by security task force from indiscriminately parking or picking up passengers within the Area 1 Roundabout down to Galadimawa uncompleted bridge.

Drivers are mandated to drop off passengers at the parks. During the day, police, traffic warden, Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) are stationed around the area. Most times, caution signs and ribbons are used to redirect and prevent vehicles from causing traffic jam. The reform brought sanity to the area.

Road Transport Employee Association (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) browbeat and sanction their members who flout the directives. The scenario is the same at the Area 3 Junction, Garki. Taxi drivers are forced to queue up to get passengers, especially during peak periods.

Touts are only allowed to direct commuters to vehicles going to their direction to board. Unruly drivers are sanctioned with fines ranging from N5,000 to N10,000 or their vehicles impounded and driver’s license seized. Berger Roundabout, Wuse, has the same resemblance of orderliness, since the deployment of the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Army.

These drivers and touts are well behaved around the axis in order not to incur the wrath of security personnel. However, they do not obey traffic rules in the early hours, between 6:30 and 8 a.m, before the arrival of the police and traffic wardens.

At 7 to 8 p.m, they park even in the middle of road to pick up passengers with reckless abandon. Attempts to shoo them, in most cases, results to insults and fight.

But the reform is yet to be replicated fully at Apo Bridge, Wuse Market and Zone 3. In those areas, drivers, especially those plying Mararaba -Nyanya axis, in connivance with touts, park indiscriminately to lift passengers.

The uncivil behaviour contributes largely to traffic jam. They are undeterred by the honking of the horns and complaints by other road users, except the blaring of sirens by security operatives plying those axis.

Surprisingly, the attitudes of these drivers are enabled by personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), traffic wardens and police, who are tipped to turn a blind eye to their nefarious activities.

While the free flow of traffic gladdens the hearts of most drivers, it is unpleasant to commuters, who complained that they are forced to take longer routes to their destination. Agatha Uche, a trader said: “Inasmuch as I like it, it is not helping some us. For instance, if I am going to Banex from Galadimawa, the driver will either drop me off at either Galadimawa roundabout or Area 1 park.

“Now, if I alight at Galadimawa Roundabout, I will have to trek to the other side of the road and it is far. If I drop at the park, I will spend more time there waiting for the car to full before we move. It is a waste of time. I understand the predicament of drivers, but some of us who are old are feeling it badly.”

A commercial driver, Aliyu Mohammed, “You just have to obey the rules in your interest because if your vehicle is compounded by the enforcers of the law, you will pay a fine. The union will not come to your aid.

“We have been warned several times. But most passengers do not understand. They think we are deliberately taking them straight to the park. We love money. We love to pick people on the road.

“But the fear of VIO, the police and traffic wardens is the beginning of wisdom. If you dare fight them, the FCT authority would impose sanction on you. You hardly see Keke Napep in certain areas because they were banned years back, because of how the riders were behaving. We do not want problem.”

A tout, Tijani Kabiru, said: “It is not helping matters at all. We are not making much money as we used to, because vehicles drive straight to the park.

“But if drivers are on the road, we can easily get passengers for them and get our commission. We still flout the rules once in a while, especially if we do not see security personnel around our area.”

However, if sanity has been restored to a large extent at designated parks, touts and hooligans have continued to unleash “terror”, freely, on innocent motorists along the major express roads, particularly new entrants into the city who might not have an idea of their operational locations and modus operandi.

In Garki, Area 1 and 3, Abuja, many motorists told Daily Sun that the criminal activities of the touts increased lately especially since the end #endbadgovernance protest that took place last, August.

Daily Sun observed that the hooligans usually target private vehicle owners or some unknown faces that stop at certain locations to either pick or drop passengers. The miscreants openly harass, intimidate and in some cases, extort huge amount of money from the unlucky drivers after intimidating, harassing and wasting their time.

Consequently, the criminal activities of the touts and constant harassment has discouraged private vehicle owners, who, most often, complement the effort of few commercial vehicle operators in servicing the transport needs of FCT people.

Surprisingly, some commuters sounded sure that the touts enjoy full support of state traffic officials, hence the boldness and confidence with which they operate at day and night hours.

With daily influx of people into Abuja, both FCT Administration and private commercial vehicle operators, have been unable to meet the transportation needs of the residents, hence the unusual and periodic intervention of the private car drivers who have increased their activities due to economic hardships.

According to some of the motorists and commuters, the touts have been responsible for distractions on the road, damage to cars as a result of the struggling with drivers which, in some cases, lead to minor or fatal accident.

From keen observation of their mode of operation, they usually ambush the drivers on sight from both sides of the vehicle. While one will be struggling to collect the ignition key with the driver, others would speedily jump into the car to vandalise the back seat or other important items in the car.

Surprisingly, the harassment, intimidation and extortion are done in the open, while the traffic officials sit and watch from obscured corner. This justified the allegation by motorists and commuters that they both work together.

A driver in Abuja, Idris Godiya, said he was a victim of the tout’s extortion. He said he innocently pulled off the road at Area 3 junction to pick a friend who had wanted to join him to Immigration office in Gwagwalada.

“Suddenly, some guys from nowhere rushed into my car and was struggling to remove my car key. At first, I thought they were car snatchers, but on a second thought, I said they couldn’t have done that in an open where there was crowd.

“But within that short spate of time, someone had removed my back seat. When I asked them the reason for the harassment, they told me that I parked to pick their passenger. I explained and showed evidences to convince them that I parked to pick a friend that wanted to join me to Gwagwalada.

“They refused to accept my explanation, and insisted I pay a fine before they release me. I pleaded with them but they ignored my plea. I ended up paying N5, 000, after I had spent hours with them. It was a horrible experience,” he lamented.

Another victim who shared her own experience, called on the FCT Administration and the Police to take necessary action to protect motorists and commuters from the increasing harassment and intimidation by the touts at Area 3 and 1.

She said her sister was seriously harassed, intimidated and abused at Area 3 junction by the touts few weeks ago, narrating: “I joined her to work on that fateful day and she stopped at Garki Area 3 junction for me to alight.

“Before she could say a word as usual, two boys rushed in from where they were hiding. They struggled the ignition key with her. They continued until we challenged them angrily. We threatened to invite the military, and that was when they left us, and warned us not to come around there again. They returned the jack and wheel spanner they took from us,” she recalled.

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