“I’m still surprised why the governors of Enugu and Anambra States have not addressed the hardship security operatives are causing on our roads. How can you have all these checkpoints just from Awka to Enugu?
What is most worrisome is that these people are not doing anything related to security. They just block the road and cause traffic snarls everywhere. They only remember to search you if the boys working for them ask you to give money and you refuse. Sometimes, they just sit down under the shade, while those local boys harass drivers and park anyone who refuses to give money.
“My greatest unhappiness is about those boys. Because they are running errands for military men, if they look at you and feel you are not obeying them, they just park you. Very saucy people.”
The above is the complaint of Mr Kelechi Okoro, a driver with one of the transport companies.
His complaint was about the difficulty drivers face in the zone because of the heavy presence of military and police operatives.
Recently, this reporter took a return trip from Awka to Enugu and back, through the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway and experienced first hand the plight of commuters on the road.
The journey started from Aroma junction in Awka, through Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, down to Amansea, before exiting Anambra.
But it was a surprise that at such a short stretch of road, which was less than four kilometres, this reporter encountered a Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) checkpoint, a Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) checkpoint, a navy checkpoint, a mobile police checkpoint and more, before exiting into Enugu State, which didn’t have less.
Checks showed that there are at least 20 checkpoints mounted by various security agencies, operating from Awka to Enugu, through the expressway, which is about 50 kilometres. This leaves drivers with their legs constantly on the brake pedal.
Although the high number of security checks could be attributed to the insecurity in the South-East, the attitude of the security men makes the situation more disturbing.
For example, during the return journey at Oji River axis, this reporter encountered a huge traffic at a checkpoint manned by mobile police operatives, but despite being cleared, the huge traffic ahead continued until it was ascertained that this was as a result of traffic caused by an army checkpoint ahead, which overflowed down to another police checkpoint.
Commuters, who spoke to Journalist,decried the frustration they faced on the road everyday.