By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan

Commercial drivers in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State yesterday protested over alleged extortion by the park managers recently inaugurated by Governor Seyi Makinde.

The drivers who stormed a private radio station in Ibadan said they are being forced to pay about N600 daily as ticket fee against the initial N200 stipulated by the Oyo State Government.

The commercial drivers said they can no longer tolerate the extortion as they are very much aware that National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) in the state is under proscription.

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Apart from the N200 fixed by the state government for them to pay as daily fee, they pay between N50 and N100 without receipts at different junctions, which amounted to between N400 and N600 on a daily basis. They said the situation is not different from the NURTW arrangement.

Speaking in a Facebook live stream, the drivers vowed to resist the request for money aside from the N200 that they are mandated to pay by the state government.

One of them who identified himself as Kola said, “We are not going to give anybody above the N200 we are asked to pay by the state government. What the park managers are doing is totally different from their mandate. We are all aware that NURTW is still under proscription, so we don’t know where the money they collect in excess is going”.

“We are totally against this arrangement and we want the state government to take necessary action to address this issue as we are no longer going to give anyone more than N200 and we know it won’t augur well with those collecting the money and this may lead to arguments and eventual fight,” he concluded.

The Park Management System was launched about a month ago as part of government’s effort to boost the internally generated revenue of the state.

Vanguard Nigeria News