Commercial Motorcyclists Protest Police Extortion In Delta

Commercial motorcyclists in Ogwashi-Uku community of Delta State have withdrawn their services from Azagba village, Ogwashi-Uku road over alleged cases of police extortions.
The correspondent  reported that the road leading to the Delta Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku was on Friday deserted by many commercial motorcyclists, who complained of high extortion by police operatives on the road.
The development left many students of the Polytechnic, who lived in Azagba and Iselle-Azagba villages, stranded as they depended on the cyclists, being the major source of transportion on the route.
A commercial cyclist, Mr. Uche Ezendu, told newsmen that some of the cyclists were forced to withdraw their services on Friday due to alleged “high rate of extortion by two police patrol teams” stationed on the road.
“We can no longer bear the high extortion. Everyday, we pay N100 to a SARS patrol team from Asaba and another patrol team from the Ogwashi-Uku Division on the same road.
“This extortion has been on over a long time and nobody is saying anything about the activities of these police teams. They just stationed themselves within a distance of four poles apart.
“Imagine two different police teams mounting a checkpoint on a four kilometer road, collecting N100 each from cyclists, motorists and other road users. This is very outrageous  if you ask me.
“We used to charge N200 as transport fare from Azagba to the Ogwashi, and that amount is what we also pay to the police teams on the road, so we are left with nothing after each trip,” Ezendu said.
Another cyclist, Peter Monye also corroborated Ezendu’s position, accusing the police patrol teams on the road of exploiting the cyclists and hampering the ability to meet their daily targets.
He said: “Please, Oga journalist, if you can help us tell the government that we are suffering in the hands of these two police teams on this Polytechnic road. They are making our daily business vey difficult.
“Do you know that as early as 7 a.m., the SARS team from Asaba are already positioned, collecting N100 and if you don’t comply, they will seize your bike and keep you there for hours.
“As if that is not enough, the other police team from the Ogwashi-Uku Division, which operates with a white Hilux truck, will also hold you down, just within a distance of 500 metres from the SARS men.