By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha

THE trustees of three transport groups which identified themselves as General Goods Transporters Association of Nigeria, GGTAN, Nigeria Lorry Drivers Association, NILODA and Heavy Duty Truck Drivers Association, HDTDA have threatened to embark on a violent demonstration and withdraw their transport services from all the routes in various parts of Imo State as a result of what they termed as illegal extortion of money from their members.

*Imo state Governor, Okorocha

Specifically, they gave Governor Rochas Okorocha a seven-day ultimatum within which to call his various agencies, contractors and commissioners to order and stop the illegal road blocks or else they would embark on a protest as well as stop all trucks and lorries from entering or carrying goods to any part of Imo State.

However, the Imo State government has described the extortionists as cabals who have continued to deviate from the government policy on single  revenue generation formula.

The State Commissioner for Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, Nick Oparandudu who spoke to newsmen in his office at the state government secretariat, Owerri, lamented that almost every ministry and parastatal in the state are bent on creating their own revenue window, for selfish aggrandizement, without minding the embarrassment their actions could cause  the government.

Okparandudu who noted that both Governor Rochas Okorocha and himself had received the petition from the lorry drivers, promised that government would soon begin a clamp down on the cabals.

The lorry drivers had in a strongly worded petition to Okorocha, written on their behalf, by their legal counsel, Chief Joe Onuoha, shortly after their emergency meeting at their national headquarters in Onitsha, Anambra State, said the high level of extortion of their members plying Onitsha/Owerri/Port-Harcourt highway, by various Imo State Government Ministries is becoming unbearable to them.

In the petition, entitled: “Illegal extortion of money from trucks and lorry drivers in the federal highways in Imo State and seven days notice of withdrawal of trucks and lorries from Imo State routes”, the petitioners said they had already issued a notice of strike to their members if by the end of the seven-day ultimatum, the extortion did not stop.

The petitioners informed Okorocha that the illegal levies/taxes being forcefully extorted from their members included Imo State Economic Commission fee of N1,000; Imo State Ministry of Commerce-Agriculture-Forest and Haulage fee of N2,500 and Imo State Daily Ticket on Infrastructure Development fee of N5,000.

Others, they mentioned were Imo State Ministry of Transport, MOT fee of N2,500; Imo State Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Goods Levy of N2,500; Imo State Ministry of Community Government, CGC Haulage Levy of N2,000; Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission, ENTRACO for daily heavy duty haulage fee permit N1,000.

The rest are Keep Imo Clean daily ticket on infrastructure development for entry and exit tax of N5,000;  Imo State Ministry of Transport and Aviation fee of N1,000; Imo State Ministry of Agriculture, Petroleum and Environment fee of 2,500, among other unreceipted levies/taxes.

They lamented that these levies/taxes are collected at the federal highways of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by touts and agents of the state government, with the full support and backing of Okorocha’s commissioners, adding that some of their receipts are hereby attached to this petition for his perusal.

They contended that such an extortion run contrary to Taxes and Levies Approved Lists for Collection Act (T.2) No. 21 of 1998 which does not allow his agents to be collecting multiple illegal levies/taxes in the federal highways within Imo State.

They also referred to a letter written to a one-time Acting Inspector-General of Police, from the office of the Permanent Secretary, National Planning Commission, Abuja, signed by Paul Fatoki, Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Commission which directed the Acting IGP to enforce the ban on illegal extortion on highways with renewed vigour.

In the letter, the Commission expressed displeasure over the continued illegal collection of taxes and levies from motorists on highways, despite the commission’s decision to place a total embargo on the practice and subsequent directive to his office to enforce the ban.