Travelers on all the major roads in the South-East region are still passing through harrowing experiences at many security checkpoints mounted on the roads.
In addition to open extortion from motorists, passengers are subjected to embarrassment, intimidation and humiliation by some security personnel manning these checkpoints, particularly soldiers.
They brazenly force the passengers, irrespective of their age, health status or weather condition, to disembark from their vehicles to cross the checkpoints on foot, to rejoin their vehicles which are only allowed to meet them across the checkpoint after the driver must have been forced to cough out some money. Their journey is delayed without apology. In addition, commuters and motorists dare not make or answer telephone calls near or around the checkpoints, no matter the emergency of the call.
This is done with impunity; a situation of cowing and subduing an entire region. This subduing mentality at the checkpoints is getting out of hand and must stop.
The business of extortion is engaged in by both police and soldiers, even road safety personnel, but the act of intimidation, embarrassment and humiliation is mostly carried out by soldiers. Despite cries and complaints by Ndigbo leaders, including members of the National Assembly caucus, against these degrading practices, the military and police high command are yet to call their men to order. Hence, they continue to treat the people in this region as slaves conquered in a war, something not done in any other part of the country. The question remains, what is the sin of residents or travellers on South-East roads to be so ill treated?
It's daylight robbery -Rights group
Speaking to this, Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, a trained criminologist and board chairman, Inter-society for civil liberty and rule of law, a foremost rights advocate, described the level of extortion on the roads in the region as daylight robbery.
"It is a horrible situation but let me start by saying that what we have in the South-East now is a combination of state actors and non-state actors, armed robbers; that is armed robbers in the sense of highway robbery through massive extortion.
"If you look at the military law, for Instance, the provision of Armed Forces Act 2004, has provisions for offence against extortion and the law clearly explains extortion as a way of obtaining money or any other material through the use of force. And it is being rapaciously and indiscriminately perpetuated on South-East roads. Yet nobody has been punished according to the law. What is happening on South- East roads is a very horrible experience.
"This is a situation where the people of the zone and people plying the roads in the region have been subjected to torture - physical and physiological. You see a situation where people face intimidation, harassment and sometimes random arrest and abduction, especially at night hours. Those who embark on night travels are subjected to more horrible experience in torture, intimidation and harassment. It is a terrible situation in the South-East since 2015, and worst of all is that it is being perpetrated by the military.
"There is this culture of impunity. There are two things that are responsible for the inability to tackle this siege mentality and intimidation in the South-East. One has to do with the increasing or alarming rate of impunity where the military officers seem to have lost control of the junior ones, because one thing about corruption is that if you want to fight corruption in an organisation, the anti- corruption pusher has to start with the leaders who are operating the system. So, if you are an employer and you lead the way of corruption; what do you want your employees to do? They will follow your footsteps. So, that is the situation we have.
"The second factor is the 'returns' culture. Every military\police officer is (allegedly) a beneficiary of the large scale extortions. This is not the issue of whether their senior officers are aware. They are fully aware and they benefit from the extortion and that is why it is thriving.
"For instance, the Nigeria Naval Base in Ogbaru has a checkpoint at Uga junction in Onitsha, Anambra State; and a lot of money is extorted there on a daily basis. There is direct and indirect extortion. Everyone around there, including the petty trader, is being extorted. The officers posted there, in a short time, change their cars and begin to live large. Any one of them that stays between 6 months and one year would have several commercial tricycles, shuttle buses and even L300 buses plying for them.
"The same thing goes on at the Asaba Army checkpoint at the Onitsha-Asaba end of the road. If you go to Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states, the entire South-East region, checkpoints are dotted at short intervals, and it is the same business at each of them", Umeagbalasi lamented.
Continuing, he said: "I think we are facing three sets of wars in the South-East, first the presumed genocide by security operatives; secondly the Jihadist Fulani herdsmen and bandits, and thirdly, the rise of both government and non- government-linked criminal entities, counterfeit agitators and others who specialise in sundry street violent activities like kidnap for ransom, armed robbery, trafficking in persons, illicit drug and illegal arms.
"And it is difficult to tackle because today in Nigeria, over 800 civil society organisations that ought to speak against these ills have government links. They are the people spoiling the work of civil society organisations. They are being funded by the government and therefore can't challenge any evil action by the government."
Umeagbalasi, therefore, called on the few independent civil society organisations and media to wake up to their duties and ensure that these ills are stopped.
Military should vacate South-East roads -Igbo women
Reacting to the torture at the checkpoints, Igbo women under the aegis of Igbo Women Assembly, IWA, demanded immediate withdrawal of military men at the checkpoints in the South-East, citing dehumanization and extortion of commuters and motorists as reasons for that.
National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, regretted that military and other security checkpoints in the region have rather become extortion points.
She decried the habitual attitude of some soldiers at some military checkpoints who derive pleasure in asking passengers to alight from their vehicles and trek across at such checkpoints, and wondered why such embarrassment.
Lolo Chimezie regretted that the humiliating treatment of commuters, especially youths being treated as slaves at military checkpoints has continued despite public outcry.
She said: "It is more annoying given the fact that even criminals who wreak havoc on innocent citizens also pass through these same checkpoints undetected.
"Our position has not changed. We don't believe the soldiers at military checkpoints in the South-East are there for the protection of our people, otherwise, how come that what matters to them is asking innocent travellers to disembark from their vehicles but criminals pass undetected?
"How can you tell me that a securityman at a checkpoint, who concentrate on collecting money from motorists and giving change in some instances, will be agile and alert enough to even know when criminals are coming? That is why sometimes they get attacked for lack of alertness. But instead of going after criminals, they still unleash their venom on innocent citizens.
"Our youths are running away from the South-East because of humiliation and harassment by security operatives at checkpoints and other places even in the communities. Even bandits are treated more honourably than youths in the South-East."
Set up team to monitor your men at checkpoints -INC tasks DHQ
The Igbo National Council, INC, in its reaction called on the Army authorities to set up a taskforce to monitor and investigate the activities of their men at the various security checkpoints within the South-East region.
The INC President, Chilos Godsent: "From our study, we discovered that many citizens and community persons inhabiting these localities find it very difficult to properly relate and share vital intelligence with these security operatives, which could have helped them discharge their duties effectively in the fight against bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminal elements terrorizing those localities. The reason is that the people feel that these military personnel are repressive and unfriendly to the civilian folks. Another observation is that they seem to concentrate more on collecting money from some commercial motorists rather than concentrating on surveillance and provision of adequate security for road users.
"On the strength of this, we request that the Nigeria Defence Headquarters set up a taskforce or monitoring team to investigate and monitor the activities of the various joint task force/military checkpoints and outposts located in the South- East region.
We'll punish any soldier involved in extortion-Army
The 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Abia State vowed to punish any soldier involved in the extortion of motorists in the state.
The Brigade urged the public to report any soldier involved in the extortion of motorists and residents of the state.
Brigade Commander, 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Brigadier- General O. O. Diya, who stated this at Ohafia, while receiving members of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Aba Branch, who called on him at his office, in Ohafia, stated that the Army doesn't condone corruption and indiscipline and warned that any soldier found to have engaged in such activities would face the wrath of the law.
Brigadier Diya assured that any soldier involved in corruption won't go scot-free.
He said: "Report any soldier involved in the extortion by getting his name and location. You can get video and pictorial evidence of the extortion where the same is possible.
"Security is everyone's business. I urge NBA Aba branch to continue to partner with the Army in getting rid of criminals in Abia State, especially in Aba."
Earlier, Chairman of NBA Aba, Charles Onuchukwu, decried the maltreatment of residents and motorists by soldiers on the highways."
Onuchukwu urged the Brigade Commander to direct soldiers at various checkpoints to devote their time to security matters and stop using civilians to extort money from motorists and residents in the state.
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