EARLY SUNDAY MORNING FATAL ROAD ACCIDENT CLAIMS DOZENS IN ANAMBRA STATE......... RTEAN LAMENTS INCIDENT AND CONDEMNS INCESSANT HARRASMENT OF DRIVERS BY GOVT AGENTS

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING FATAL ROAD ACCIDENT CLAIMS DOZENS IN ANAMBRA STATE.....

..... AS RTEAN LAMENTS INCIDENT AND CONDEMNS INCESSANT HARRASMENT OF DRIVERS BY GOVT AGENTS

By Emma Asie ANipr (MR E) 

The Anambra State chairman of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Ambassador Chinedu Nwabueze, has lamented the fatal multiple road accident that occurred early on Sunday morning 2nd June 2024 along the Oba-Idemili axis of  Onitsha-Owerri express way which took the lives of dozens of persons and according to him was directly caused by unruly Revenue collection agents of the Anambra state government 

Condeming the role of the Revenue collection agents in the dastardly accident, Mr Nwabueze regretted that such an avoidable accident appear to be a recurring incident in Anambra state recalling that in 2023 alone, not less than ten of such fatal accidents were reported in the state leading to the loss of dozens of innocent lives and destruction of vehicles and properties worth  billions of Naira. He stated that the revenue agents whom he described as thugs and criminals mount road blocks along major roads and resort to all manner of violence and intimidation in order to collect certain tolls from drivers and other road users. He stated that this was what directly caused that fatal multiple accident on Sunday Morning involving two trailers, three buses, five tricycles and other vehicles . Dozens of people many of them on their way to church, died in the accident. He regretted the unnecessary waste of human lives in the carnage which would have been prevented if the state government had acted upon his earlier complaints. He emphasized that most of the tolls are illegal and inhuman especially the  collection of  one thousand naira (N1000) from every interstate transporter that passes through Anambra state and that he had written to both the state governor Prof Charles Soludo and the commissioner of Police about it. 

The chairman noted that the letter the  RTEAN had written  to the Governor raised  five major points of concern about the Transport business in the state. They include

1. Upfront payment of road tolls by drivers of various categories. According to him, global best practice is for tolls payment to be paid after usage of the roads and not upfront. 

2. Huge accumulated debts allegedly owed by drivers to the state government. This was caused by the practice of collecting accumulated tolls even from drivers that did not work for extended periods due to one reason or the other (like vehicle fault, health challenges etc). He insisted that these debts must be canceled unconditionally. 

3. Use of desperate, dangerous thugs and criminals to collect tolls rather than trained union members. He called for a return of the task of toll collection to the association whose members are trained, organized, peaceful and more effective in the duty. He insisted that all the current revenue collection agents should be withdrawn and their various road blocks across the state, dismantled immediately. 

4. Collection of N1000 from all interstate vehicles. He insisted that the practice should stop immediately as it is illegal and  the tolls collected so far be returned to the unions for onward refund to the interstate drivers through their individual state unions. 

5.The RTEAN also called on the state government to hold an urgent critical stakeholders meeting to determine the way forward for the public transport sector in the state. 

The chairman said the RTEAN gave the state government a 20 day  ultimatum to comply with all the above demands but unfortunately the government chose not to respond. Upon expiration of the ultimatum, the association gave another 7 days which will expire by Friday 7th June. Non compliance by the state government will lead to an indefinite strike by all the  various public transport unions affiliated with the RTEAN. This includes buses, shuttles, tricycles, motor cyclists, trucks and trailers. 

He called on the state government to urgently act so as to prevent a continuation of the unfortunate but preventable fatal accident of Sunday morning along other roads in the state and prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead and healing and solace to the wounded.

Recall that Mr Nwabueze had earlier raised same concerns about toll collection, harrasments, incessant fatal road accidents caused by these unruly revenue collectors during his appearance on Alpha Radio 106.5fm Nnobi on the program POLITICAL HEAT, anchored by Emmanuel Asiegbunam (Mr E on the Mic). You may read the interview via this  link below

http://emmaasieupdates.blogspot.com/2023/08/involve-unions-in-transport-rates.html