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Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Tipper drivers in Anambra have given notice of another blockade of the Onitsha –Asaba Bridge Head on January 5, 2020 to press home their demands for Governor Obiano’s intervention following multiple levies and extortion of their members by government agents.
Chairman of All Tipper Drivers Association, Ebuka Unekwe said, yesterday, that the planned blockade and total shutdown of access roads would be the fourth in the series of their protests within Onitsha. He warned that the protest would have adverse affect on those returning to the city after the new year and Christmas festivities.
Unekwe said the third protest staged last weekend causing serious gridlock lasting over five hours, but that it was called off following the intervention of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah who was caught up in the blockade and pleaded with them to rescind their actions. He said they realised late that Governor Obiano travelled overseas, while no effort had been made to address their travails in the hands of touts and government revenue agents who continue to exploit and harass them.
Ebuka lamented that payment to government agents had increased from N200 to N, 000 per trip of sand, while these agents forcefully collected other fees ranging from N1,400 to N2,400 per trip on other bigger size tippers. He said they ended up remitting all their earnings to touts, while government had not been firm to harmonise the exact amount they should pay as internally generated revenue.
