Bad Road And Police Extortion

Horror, disgust, outrage
and frustration succinctly describe the feelings of motorists that ply a deplorable portion of Ikwerre Road which lies directly opposite to the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (4 Ikwerre Road), publishers of The Tide newspaper. The spot in question is an economically viable aspect of Ikwerre Road leading to Silver Bird premises and Abonnema Wharf, among others.
Transiting on that part of Ikwerre Road means different things to different road users. Some motorists and indeed commuters who spoke with The Tide on the state of the road described their experience as harrowing. They say the situation is worsened by the untoward activities of the police in ambushing, arresting and extorting motorists who drive against traffic in avoidance of the bad area.
The motorists further lament the loss of man-hour in navigating the unmotorable spot and describe it as a true reflection of its calamitous state as well as the torment road users are subjected to each day.
A commercial vehicle driver, Mr. Goddy Amadi, deplores the state of the road and referred to it as a death trap. He urged the Rivers State government to intervene urgently.
“Oga, that road is very bad. My motor has sink there one day and I paid money to bring it out. The other time police arrested me and collect N2, 000.00 from me for taking this one way. The bad road affect my business very well. Let government help us,” said Amadi.
In a similar reaction, the Chairman of Big Sam Drivers, Mr. Romanus Nwokorie, decries the abysmal state of the road. He says his business is affected by it. He, however, condemned the action of the police in extorting motorists who, in order to avoid being stuck in the bad portion, take an alternative adjourning one way route.
“The bad road affect our business too much. Police people like to use here. As here don spoil motor no dey like to pass here again. We use to pass the one way now. But they (the police) use to block us for that one way because here is too bad. So any time dem hold our motor, dem go collect N2, 000.00 from us or they carry us down to station.
“Our motor like to sink inside this water. I want make government help us so that here go dey free for drivers to pass. Dem don work this road before. Na NDDC work it before. It last only two months, then the thing spoil again,” Nwokorie lamented.
On his part, the Manager, Big Sam, Mr. Ngorji Williams, blames the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for the deplorable state of the road. He claimed that the bad portion had been worked on earlier by them in a haphazard manner. Like others, he also deprecated the police for extorting motorists using that route and urged the state government to be sensitive to the sordid plight of road users at that part of Ikwerre Road. Here him:
“You know the problem is NDDC. The former one they did, we told them that they should put very big pipe to channel the water, but they refused. They bring small one that is why the place is continuous spoiling every day.
“We are harassed by police every day. Police in fact here is there office now. This place is their office now. After they finish work for morning, them come here and start embarrassing cars that are revising back. They start collecting money from them up to N2, 000.00.
“The police always stay at the flyover there watching the people on top of the flyover revising back. Once you come up to the flyover, they collect money from you. That is what they have been doing. We have been shouting, reporting, nothing. I suggest that government should put eyes on this road. They should put that big pipe and make very big drainage so that this water can pass through. If the water pass through, everything will be okay.”
A transporter, who ferries passengers from the Isaac Boro Park flyover area to Iloabuchi, Mr. Theodore Owalaka, also bemoaned the poor state of the road. He says the road affects everyone including pedestrians and those who do business in the vicinity.
“The road is bad. It is very very bad. The road is disturbing us. My motor don spoil almost three or four times there. It even break my exhaust pipe there. Even police always come there to harass us because most of us we take one way now because we cannot enter through there.
“I don’t know what is wrong with that road. It is quite not long when they do that road. It spoil again. I don’t know what is wrong. But the one wey dey disturb us pass na the policemen. Them just hang somewhere dey wait for motor wey dey follow one way. The policemen even stay up there to wait for who will follow one way then them go catch the person and collect money.
“Please let government do something about it. The thing dey worry, more especially we drivers wey dey use small small cars,” Owalaka stressed.
Expressing similar views, another commercial vehicle driver, Mr. David Chigbo, says that portion of the road is not motorable. According to him, even petrol tankers, using the way to load fuel at Abonnema Wharf, had sunk there severally with some almost falling off. He called on the government to act fast and ameliorate the situation.
“The road is so bad in that no motor can pass there. The first contractor who did the road, they didn’t do it well. They did it anyhow and go away. We are now suffering the effect now. This side where we are staying has spoilt. The other side too has spoilt.
“What government should do is to come and look what is going on here and do something. The road has been like this since February. In January we just managed it. It was just last year February they did it. It did not last one year it spoilt again. I believe they used inferior materials to do the job,” Chigbo explained.
A businessman, who resides in Port Harcourt, Mr. Owunari Braide, regrets the state of the road and blames the state government for what he describes as “high level of negligence” of a significant portion of a major road in the very heart of Port Harcourt. He asks the state Works Ministry to intervene and salvage the situation.
“Such road should not be seen at this time in Port Harcourt. Don’t government officials take this place? You can see that the bad side of the road has cut off those at this end from those at the other side. This is my route. Since the road assumed this way, I have been forced to take this one way regardless of police harassment. I mean the government should act immediately,” Owunari said.
When contacted, the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, claimed ignorance of the extortionist activities of the police at the area and promised to investigate.
However, the Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Victor Giadom, could not be reached for comments on the state of the road despite several attempts.
Also, spokesman for the Rivers State Road Traffic Management Authority, TIMARIV, Mr. Nimi Brown-West, declined comments on the issue and referred to an existing prohibition on all staff of the Authority from speaking to the press.

Police using the bad spot opposite The Tide to harass motorists

Arnold Alalibo