15112022

32 — Niger-Delta Voice, TUESDAY, NOVEMEBR 15, 2022
HUNGER-PROPELLED REVOLUTION:
Commercial motorcyclists
defy 15-yr ban in C-River
•Return to Calabar roads, despite law by state govt
•Police, community aid, abet disobedience, collect bribes
•Commercial motorcyclists doing brisk business on Calabar roads unchallenged.
CROSS-RIVER …
THE PEOPLE’S PARADISE
By Emmanuel Unah
C
A L A B A R —
COMMERCIAL
motorcyclists banned from
operating in the Calabar
Municipality and Calabar South
Local Government Areas in
Cross-River State, which
comprise Calabar, the state
capital, in 2008, have rebelled
against the law and returned to
operations, 15 years after.
Police officers, who are
supposed to implement the law,
connive with the commercial
motorcyclists to flout the law, after
extorting money daily from them.
Some community folks also collect
money from the motorcyclists.
However, the motorcyclists said
the mode of transportation was
their only source of livelihood
and, since they do not want to
die of hunger, have to pay their
children’s school fees and meet
other needs, they have to flout
the ban.
Imoke effected ban
Ex-governor, Senator Liyel
Imoke, effected the ban at the
time to curb what he termed
"excesses and recklessness of
motorcycle operators", use of
motorcycles by bandits as getaway
means, after robbery
operations, and mob action by
the commercial motorcyclists at
accident scenes involving any
of them, and so on.
His predecessor, Mr. Donald
Duke, in 2005, attempted to ban
commercial motorcyclists in
Calabar but, owing to the
swiftness of the decision, he later
rescinded, until Imoke effectively
brought the ban into place.
Senator Imoke, however, gave
some exceptions. Security agents
like police, soldiers, immigration,
navy, air force, civil defense and
prison personnel, who already
owned motorcycles, could ride
same only while reporting and
closing from duty, but not for
commercial reasons.
Normalcy
With the ban, Calabar
essentially became the first city
in Nigeria to outlaw the
operations of commercial
motorcyclists.
Some desperate riders who
refused to obey the ban had
their motorcycles impounded,
destroyed or auctioned to traders,
who came from Lagos and other
cities to buy the motorcycles.
Some sold their motorcycles and
others moved out of Calabar.
After the initial difficulty in
movement, occasioned by the
ban, normalcy returned and
peace reigned in the city.
Some motor-cyclists bought
rickety cars and buses, which
they used for transport services.
Return of impunity
However, over time, there
was a lax in enforcement of the
ban, as some security
personnel used their
motorcycles for commercial
operations at night.
Emboldened by the activities of
security agents, some commercial
motorcyclists returned to
business.
Initially, they confined their
operations to the outskirts of the
city in places like Ikot Ekpo, Ikot
Effanga, Atimbo and Bakoko but,
with time, they moved to the
city centre.
Today, it is common to find
motorcycles brazenly operating
with all the impunity everywhere
in Calabar metropolis, which
caused the ban.
They move around
everywhere, causing accidents,
robbing and attacking other road
users at the slightest provocation,
and so on.
Relief as youths fix flood-ravaged road in Bayelsa
BAYELSA…THE
JERUSALEM OF IJAW
NATION
By Samuel Oyadongha
EDEPIE—YOUTHS of
Elebele community in Ogbia
Local Government Area, Bayelsa
State, have come to the rescue of
motorists, laying sandbags on a
flood-devastated section of the
road linking the town to Yenagoa,
the state capital, to save it from
total collapse, pending the
intervention of the relevant
authorities.
Armed with shovels and sticks,
the youths have turned saving
angels for motorists and travelers,
who have to navigate the many
craters on the crumbling road.
Most motorists shuttling
Yenagoa, Ogbia and Nembe local
government councils now prefer
to pass through the Elebele
community, instead of going
through the Okarki axis in Rivers
State, which is a longer route.
They also avoid the Edepie-
Otuasega-Imiringi route, which
is also a quicker route like the
Elebele axis, because of its
terrible state caused by the flood.
The deep gullies
•Flood-devastated Edepie-
Otuasega-Imiringi road.
scared me
—Female motorist
A female motorist told NDV:
“Aside from using sandbags to
erect barriers to break the speed
of the water current flowing
across the road, they are also
laying sandbags in the gullies
and eroded edges to save the road
from total collapse.
“Some youths even assisted
the terrified car owners to drive
through the delicate spots. The
relieved car owners would
support their voluntary efforts, to
enable them to get more
sandbags to stabilise the ailing
structure, pending the
intervention of the authorities.
"I was so afraid to drive through
the flood-ravaged bend, until one
youth beckoned on me to
advance, but on noticing my
confused state, he volunteered to
drive through. I have not seen
polite and caring volunteers like
these youths before,” she added.
Why we make the
sacrifice —Enato
A resident, Enato, said:
"Though the flood has caused us
much pain, its devastating
consequences have created an
opportunity for us to assist
motorists to pass through the
damaged spots and also assist
our local economy.
“Ours is an agrarian settlement
with a mix of civil servants and
traders. If our road is accessible,
our people, who sell by the
fringe, will make sales and this
will boost their income. That is
the sacrifice we are making for
our community."
Outstanding service
—Kuro, driver
An elated commercial driver,
Owei Kuro, told NDV: "The
community youth leadership has
shown exceptional service by
ensuring that the youths
maintain the bad spots, and
they have been working
vigorously, using sandbags to fill
the road.
“Their effort is commendable,
as it will prevent erosion from
cutting the road off, making it
easier for motorists to access the
community. It is our prayers that
the government moves in soonest
for proper rehabilitation work."
It‘s a communal effort
—Temple
A resident sacked by flood, Mr.
Temple, asserted: "I met the
youths bagging sand and laying
same at the damaged spots when
I went to check if I could return
home and joined in the
communal effort."
It is our only source
of livelihood
—Motorcyclists
When NDV accosted some
operators at the popular Watt
Market Roundabout, they came
up with a litany of complaints,
ranging from poverty and lack
of job, saying commercial
motorcycling is their only source
of livelihood.
"We have no jobs and, instead
of stealing, it is better for us to
operate motorcycles and help our
families," Etekamba, who claims
to be the leader of the motorcycle
operators at the Bayside, told our
reporter.
"These people you see here
have school fees to pay, uniforms
to buy and food to provide for
their families, and motorcycle is
all they have.
…settle police,
community
"Some of the monies we collect
go to the police, some to the
community, it does not go into
one person's pocket," he narrated
NDV discovered that police
officers, who ought to implement
the ban, were actively conniving
with the motorcycle operators by
extorting the sum of N500 daily
from them as 'operational fees'.
The Director General of
Calabar Transport Regulatory
Agency, CITRA, Mr. Gabriel
Adah, said: “The ban is still in
place, but you know Nigerians.
These boys would never obey
the law. Hunger can make you
do what you are not supposed
to do"
He said he knows the police
connive with the commercial
motorcycle operators to give
them the leeway to operate, after
extorting money from them.
"In Nigeria a little money
makes people turn a blind eye,
and that is the case with the
motorcycle operators and police
officers in Calabar,” he said.
Levy
However, some youths, who arranged
hardcore on the decrepit spots, levy tricycle
operations and car owners between N100
to N200
"As you can see, without us fixing the
failed portions, cars cannot pass and there
is nothing wrong in our collecting some
change for our labor," one youth, who simply
identified himself as Dennis, told NDV.
Bayelsa govt takes
stock
Meanwhile, officials of the state
government Post-Flood Management
Committee, led by the deputy governor,
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, last week,
embarked on assessment tours of damaged
infrastructures and taking stock of areas
devastated by the 2022 flood.
According to the committee, the visit is
to assess the current situation and to hear
from the communities about their specific
needs and challenges.
•Elebele road, weekend, where community youths resorted
to using sandbags to save it from total collapse.