By Ben Agande

Kaduna bus drivers, protesting alleged high-handedness and extortion by officials of the Kaduna State Traffic and Environmental Law Agency, KASTELEA, yesterday, left hundreds of motorists stranded as the drivers boycotted most of the Kaduna roads.

The bus drivers alleged that officials of the traffic agency have resorted to extorting as much as between N20,000 and N50,000 for minor offenses like parking in places that are not designated as bus stops or parking lots within the city.

The official fee for such minor misdemeanor, according to some of the drivers who spoke to Vanguard, is N5,000.

According to the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Alhassan Haruna, the protest became inevitable to draw attention of relevant authorities to the activities of the marshals.

However, General Manager of KASTELEA, Colonel Abdulkadri Zubair, described the protest as political, as the complaints raised by the transporters in the state are being looked into.

But the Chairman of NURTW in Kaduna, Alhassan Haruna, said though he had directed his men to resume work, the protest appeared to have been hijacked by touts.