Anambra: Commuters groan over multiple checkpoints, gridlocks on roads

Some commuters have frowned at the persistent gridlocks caused by multiple checkpoints in various metropolises and roads across Anambra State, resulting in spending several hours for a journey of minutes.

Checks by South-East PUNCH correspondent revealed that the activities of security personnel, including naval ratings, police and the Federal Road Safety Corps, have not only caused gridlocks but also raised the transportation fares along several routes in the state.

South-East PUNCH correspondent, who visited some of the affected areas on Tuesday, also observed that most of the security operatives did not mount the checkpoints for security purposes, but to use them as an avenue to extort motorists, especially commercial vehicles of various amounts of money.

These checkpoints are always located within less than 400 meters of one another. Some of the notorious checkpoints are located at Enamel Bus stop near Upper Iweka, Mgbuka bus stop, Idemili by-pass, and People’s Club, all along the Onitsha-Owerri road. They are also found at both ends of the River Niger Bridgehead, as well as the Army Gate, along Onitsha-Awka Expressway, among others.

For instance, at the checkpoints mounted by some naval ratings at the ever-busy Enamel Bus Stop, along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, a South-East PUNCH correspondent observed as two teenagers were collecting money ranging from N200 to N500 from commercial drivers and tricycle operators, on behalf of the naval officers, as the naval officers monitored proceedings and heavily descended on any driver who refused to comply.

Their activities also caused a heavy gridlock, as motorists and travellers were stranded for several hours along the road, while the naval ratings watched proceedings, even as a signboard displaying ‘Say no to extortions’ was mounted in the middle of the road.

The situation was always made worse for road users in the evenings, as the naval ratings would block one lane of the major road while leaving a small space for vehicles to struggle to squeeze through. Punch