Tanker Drivers Protest: Residents Count Losses

Normal activities along Iwofe/ Rumuolumeni Road were, Wednesday, November 23, 2011, stalled following a protest by tanker  drivers against alleged police brutality of their colleague at Iwofe Road in Port Harcourt.

Information obtained by The Tide had it that trouble started when a mobile police team escorting expatriate staff of Saipem Nigeria Limited, beat up a tanker driver for failing to give way to the convoy.

Apparently angered by the action of the police, sources said, some tanker drivers mobilized their colleagues for a protest action against the police.

An eye witness account confirmed that the protest caused harrowing difficulties for both motorists and pedestrians as the tanker drivers blocked St Michael’s junction down to Rumuokwuta area. Areas like Iwofe, Elioparanwo, Rumuolumeni and surrounding communities also witnessed the lull in activities following the protest, say observers.

A commuter, Mr. Emeka Esmailly, who spoke with The Tide simply described the action of the police as “over zealous.”

Another commuter, Mr. John Epelle, spoke angrily and said: “I am just finished. My uncle gave me money to give to his business colleagues, and since 9am I am still trekking and I have spent all the money given to me for transportation. I have been trying to use part of his colleague’s money to pick a drop, yet I can’t see any taxi driver willing to carry me.”

Mr. Epelle’s companions in the indignifying experience include market women , students and diverse shades of persons who walked long distance to get to their destinations.

A 61 year-old woman, Mrs Chtistiana Job, narrated her regrets to The Tide: “If only I had an idea of how the road would be today, I would not have attempted leaving my house.”

Narrating her ordeal further, Mrs Job said she was going to a clinic to visit her daughter in-law who was delivered of a baby when she got stuck in the imbroglio. Holding a basket full of unidentified items in her right hand and  a mobile handset in the left hand, while sweating profusely, Mrs. Job spoke slowly.

“There is no bus, no taxi and the few available ones are being dragged by young ladies and men. You can see me now. They said it now cost N150.00 from Wimpey junction to St. Michael instead of the usual N50.00. So what do I do?”

The Port Harcourt Zonal boss of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers, Mr. Godwin Eruba, in a telephone discussion with The Tide, blamed the police for the problem. He said the Union had received several reports of police brutalization of tanker drivers. He reminded the police that tanker drivers had the responsibility to carry out their legitimate duties just as other law- abiding Nigerians.

A tanker driver, Yusuf Kano, told The Tide that police escort teams should consider the condition of bad roads in Port Harcourt when harassing motorists.

“People don’t know that the way they suffer because of the poor road, is equally the way tanker drivers suffer but they always blame us. A policeman three months ago beat me up because he said I was blocking the road for his Oga to pass. Today is the day we feel that enough is enough,” Kano warned.

He said time had come when everyone should understand that tanker drivers were Nigerians and that what affected other Nigerians also befell them.

“Look at me, I am a poor Nigerian, struggling to survive. I don’t own the tanker I am driving. If I tell you how much I am paid at the end of the month, you will shout. But I have to survive with my own family. People should not see us as the cause of the problem. Rather it is the poor state of the roads,” lamented Kano.

But when reminded that the road was under contract, Kano cut in. “No, don’t tell me that. Governor Amaechi is a serious governor in Nigeria. Whatever he wants to do, he does it, I have heard of the government asking contractors handling other road projects to work even during the rains and at times day and night. Why can’t the governor order the contractor handling this project who behaves as if he is too big?” Kano wondered.

Following frequent cases of police/tanker drivers clash in Port Harcourt, observers say the sensitization of police officers on how to relate with Nigerians while discharging their duties has become imperative.

Some analysts recalled that a similar incident occurred recently when tanker drivers blocked Iwofe Road for about four hours in protest against the inhuman treatment their members get from policemen particularly on that road. They complained of high level of extortion.

That protest occurred when a patrol team accosted a tanker driver whose truck was loaded with petroleum product and asked for his particulars. The driver produced and handed them to the officers for verification. The officer, according to sources, demanded money from the driver, a request he refused to oblige. This angered the officers who drove away with his papers.

In reaction to the unlawful seizure of his papers by the policemen, the truck driver blocked the road with his truck. His colleagues did same with theirs in solidarity with him. This caused a hectic traffic jam.

When contacted on the phone to confirm last Wednesday’s incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ben Ugwegbulam, claimed he was driving and promised to call back. However, a source disclosed to The Tide that the erring policeman had been arrested.

Arnold Alalibo And Chris Oluoh