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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The National Coordinator, All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA) Media Warriors’ Forum, Evang Chinedu Obigwe, has disclosed that the Anambra state government under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has achieved tremendous success in the battle against touts and other unscrupulous elements in the state.
Obigwe, who spoke in Awka on Thursday against the backdrop of protests and request by shuttle bus drivers that touts (Agbero) should be banned in Anambra, disclosed that many of the touts have been jailed for various offences while others were facing prosecution.
He said the Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, banned Agbero in parks in the state immediately after he assumed office on March 17, 2022.
While sympathizing with the shuttle bus drivers over the loss of one of their members recently, Obigwe said the request had long been implemented by the state government.
Obigwe said upon assumption of office, Soludo categorically stated that Agbero was no job and therefore those into it should embrace his administration’s empowerment initiatives to better their lives
He said the enforcement unit of Anambra Inland Revenue Service (AIRS )has sent so many of them to prison and they are still going after others noting that any unauthorised revenue taskforce agent seen on the streets of Anambra State is a criminal and should be treated as such.
He said,” My reaction to their call on Governor Soludo for a total ban of touts in Anambra State, I will start by telling them that what they are asking for was what the Governor did on assumption of office.”
“When the agberos thought that he was joking and disobeyed his directives, he hit them so hard without mercy. The issue of agbero menace is not being handled with kid gloves in Anambra.
“There is a big difference between government authorised revenue task force agent and agbero. The authorised revenue task force agents are well behaved unlike the criminals impersonating them.”
He said Soludo was waging a successful war against agberos in Anambra, imploring the people of the state to join hands in the fight by providing information on how to apprehend more of the touts so that they would face justice.
“ If you go to prisons in Anambra, you will see many agberos serving their punishment there; so it is wrong for anybody to call on Governor Soludo for a total ban of their( Agbero) activities in Anambra when he had done that already and dealing decisively with the recalcitrant ones among them.
“One thing with Governor Soludo is that he is a man that walks his talk and ndi Anambra should continue supporting him for the completion of the numerous good works he is doing in our State.
He advised drivers to be on the lookout for the culprits so that when they were sighted anywhere in Anambra, they would alert security agents for them to be apprehended and pay for their heinous crime, reemphasizing that the Soludo administration had zero tolerance for the activities of agberos in Anambra and he would continue dealing with them decisively.
