BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha

Commercial activities were grounded in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State, following a peaceful demonstration embarked upon by members of Keke NAPEP drivers association, in collaboration with members of the Campaign for Democracy, CD, a human rights group.

File photo: Okada riders

During the demonstration which lasted from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m., the placard-wielding protesters gathered at the popular Dennis Memorial Grammar School, DMGS Roundabout, from where they proceeded to Onitsha South Local Government Council, Divisional Police Stations, Fegge; Okpoko and Awada, among other places they considered strategic.

Describing the protest as a 1,000-man-march against harassment, intimidation, extortion and unlawful arrests and detentions of their members, by the police, allegedly working for their opponents, some of the inscriptions in their placards read in part: “Keke people are Nigerian citizens”, “Some cabals are using the police to force us buy their tickets”, “When did the police become Keke managers?”, among others.

At the Onitsha South Council Secretariat, Woliwo, the Secretary to the local government, Sylvanus Mgbechukwu, who addressed them on behalf of the Council Chairman, Lady Ann Chukwuneke, said the council has just set up a five-man committee to look into the complaints of the tricycle operators.

Mgbechukwu therefore urged them to exercise patience and wait for the recommendations of the committee, since it would not be proper for them to stampede the council into meeting their demands within few days after their demonstrations.

Earlier, the SouthEast Zonal Chairman of CD, Dede Uzor A. Uzor and leader of the tricycle operators, Chief Donatus Ezeanuna (aka War Material) had noted that the collaboration of CD was as a result of the high level of intimidation and extortion being meted out to the tricycle operators in the state, adding that it was quite unfortunate that the police and local government officials are being used against their members.

Uzor and Ezeanuna therefore demanded that the local government should liberate the tricycle operators from the hands of motorcyclists by giving them direct authority to sell their revenue tickets by themselves, instead of an external body, adding that since most of tricycles are being run under hire purchase, no body should force them to belong to the motorcycle union or even operate under them.

At the Divisional Police Station, Fegge, the DPO, Rabiu Garba was not on seat to receive them but they dropped their placards and left for Okpoko Police Division where the DPO, Emeka Ugwu, CSP, advised them to shun any criminal act.

Ugwu who promised to investigate the extortion and harassment allegations against some policemen under the Division, described them as partners in progress and assured them that the police would not harass, extort or intimidate their members unnecessarily.

The DPO who immediately ordered the release of a tricyle and a motorcycle belonging to their members, added that any of them arrested for minor offence would be entitled to bail before being charged to court, while those arrested for serious offences like robbery, kidnapping, murder or rape would be charged to court after investigations, since such offence are not bailable.

The union, under the aegis of Keke-Napep Owners and Operators Welfare Association of Anambra State, KNOOWAAS, had barely two months ago threatened to pull out of their umbrella mother union, Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria/Autobike Owners Welfare Association of Nigeria, MTUN/AOWAN, for what they termed as lack of confidence in the leadership of the umbrella union executive.

In a protest, KNOOWAAS stated that although they are nursing the feelings that their eventual pull out from NTUN/AOWAN could generate industrial disharmony and possible blood shed, they had almost concluded arrangement to go ahead because MTUN/AOWAN had failed woefully to implement the agreement contained in a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, binding them together.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT of KNOOWAAS, Chief Ezeanuna who disclosed this to newsmen in Onitsha during the protest, said MTUN/AOWAN was in existence as an umbrella union for commercial motorcyclists before KNOOWAAS came up as a separate body during the emergence of tricyle. But at a stage, MTUN/AOWAN forced KNOOWAAS and the Association of Tricycle Operators, Owners and Dealers Anambra State, ATOODAS to come under them.