Tunji Adedeji
These days, Imo citizens have not stopped moaning over the activities of men in lemon aprons with Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA); and Environmental Transformation Commission, Imo State (Imo ENTRACO) boldly written at the back.
They claim to be checking wrong parking, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, collection of shop levy without having identity cards. They are in the habit of impounding vehicles and extorting motorists with no receipt issued after payment.
Besides seizing vehicles, the mindless and rough-looking youths also harass commercial vehicle drivers over stickers and bucket, while attracting outrageous sums of money and payment made manually at ENTRACO office.
Trumpeta findings reveal that on daily bases vehicles are towed/moved into the ENTRACO yard, along Aba road , the tyres would be deflated, keys seized by the officials and demand of money from N30,000 would be made, without receipts/booking documents.
Investigation also revealed that from the N500 for pumping each tyre, the vulcaniser would only get between N100 and N150, while the balance would go to the leaders of the team , which they would share every evening.
Trumpeta learnt that the last point of harassment, before impounded vehicles and motorcycles would be allowed to leave the premises was the main gate, where the usually-drunk gatemen would still insist on collecting N1,000, before opening the gate, claiming that the hoodlums would not share the collected “loot” with them.
Not minding the number of hours spent by the victims to plead with the terrible gatemen, exit would be denied, until they collected money.
A journalist recently was driving along Port Harcourt road by Assembly junction when his phone rang and he parked his car by the road side to answer the call, with the car’s hazard lights on, but OCDA boys impounded the car forcing him to pay a huge sun of money, which he refused to disclose, to avoid being trailed, before his car was granted “bail.”
Narrating his ordeal ,he said” The vehicles-impounding squad which achieve this with help of police and civil defence recently shutdown four banks’ branches around Government House/ Bank road Owerri.”
“The affected banks are Union Bank, United Zenith Bank among others, even shops owners, residents are not left out over ENTRACO, OCDA harassments”
On the part of OCDA, it was gathered that developers and builders are expressing tough times from their operatives.
Apart from stopping work on sites, they OCDA officials cart away working materials as well invade in estates not controlled by the state.
It was learnt that apart from entering Federal Housing Estate, Umuguma to operate, the OCDA operatives carted away materials because of a renovation work which they demanded N70,000 from the owners.
