“Also, before this lockdown, it took us about three days to come from the North to the South South, but now, we spend over six days on the road and sometimes, before we get here, some farm produce like onions, tomatoes, pepper would have been damaged.”
Investigations revealed that security personnel deployed to enforce the directive at different locations in the state have allegedly turned their duty posts to revenue-generating points, where they extort motorists and other travellers at will.
Apart from being extorted, the truck drivers spend between two to three days queuing at the border before they are cleared by the security operatives after rigorous negotiations. This delay exposes perishable items like tomatoes, pepper, watermelon, onions, potatoes among others to damage. Alhaji Mohammed Wusari, a truck driver, told The Guardian at Mbiama border: “In the North before now, vehicle owners charge us N400, 000 for any trailer that is going to Port Harcourt, but now, it has risen to N700, 000 due to several settlements, at different locations, in various states. Yet when we get to this border, we still pay between N50, 000 to N70, 000 to security agencies before we are allowed to enter the state.
He disclosed that those, who travel through the major Elele-Owerri route pay higher at the border post, adding that each passenger also pays N500 to enable him/her to cross with the driver, while those following inner routes pay less. For instance, on March 28, 2020, just two days after the Governor Nyesom Wike announced the lockdown, a soldier, Private BJ Lazarus, was seen allegedly aiding a truck driver from Rivers State to enter into Imo State through Ubimini Community in Emohua Local Council before he was intercepted by the President of Ubimini Youths, Mr. Ikechukwu Wordu, who is also a member of the COVID-19 compliance monitoring team in the area.
Alarmed by the ugly development, which had been going on for some time, Governor Wike had during a state-wide broadcast on Monday, April 27, berated security agencies for allowing travellers to enter and leave the state at will, despite the border closure. Speaking after monitoring the compliance level of the lockdown in both councils, Wike alleged that the police chief “is issuing illegal letters to companies to defy the curfew,” stressing that “it was unfortunate that the deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations in the State would issue letters to companies to operate in defiance of the executive order of the state government.
The police spokesman, who noted that there were other security officers at the border, including the state government task force, affirmed that everyone was working jointly towards achieving the goal of protecting residents of the state and their property. On his part, the spokesman of the Six Division, Nigerian Army, Major Charles Ekeocha, said he could not speak on the activities of troops enforcing the COVID-19 border closure in the state, stating that it is the duty of the COVID-19 committee put in place by the state government.
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