Ogun Residents Working In Lagos Recount Pains Of Border Closure
• Delta, Anambra Reach Truce On Movement Across Niger Bridge
FOR Nigerians living in one state and working or having daily businesses in another, the COVID- 19 pandemic has brought a season of pain and agony as a result of the 8pm to 6am curfew and restriction of inter- state movement.
It has been an unusual time for those residing but working in Ogun and Lagos states and vice versa, as well as Delta and Anambra states, as the inter- state border closure has caused them unwarranted embarrassment and hardship in the last four weeks.
The scenario at the border points between Ogun and Lagos last week, when The Guardian visited, revealed the traumatic experiences the people pass through daily in a bid to cross over. At the Kara Bridge/ Berger Bus stop on the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, motorists and passers- by, including essential workers, are subjected to unpleasant experiences.
Reports from those living around Mowe, Ibafo, Redemption Camp, Magoro and Magada, among other communities, showed that majority of them have had to pass several nights at the border for failing to beat the 8pm curfew time.
Miss Arinola Olugbose, a nurse who resides in Mowe, said she had slept on the road three times, as the security agents always displayed hostility, especially at night, whenever anyone approached them to pass through the border.
“I must say it is a very bitter experience for us at this time. I work in a hospital on Lagos Island and used to leave home as early as 5am, but that is no more obtainable because of difficulties in getting vehicles as a result of the curfew.
“Even, contrary to the pre- COVID- 19 period when you get direct bus to CMS or Obalende, one can only get bus to the point where the security agents mount their barricades, then you trek a long distance to get another bus. The situation is always worse at night, as people find it difficult to move to the other side because the security personnel are always hostile.
“What about the market women, the nursing mothers and the disabled, if you see the agony they encounter to get to their places of work, you would pity their situation. To tell you the truth, it has been a very tough period for us,” she recounted.
Lorry drivers and heavy- duty vehicles, who took advantage of the lockdown relaxation days, were denied entry into Lagos State by security personnel mounting barricades at the Odo boundary via Ikola in Ota.
As a result, the area has been turned into a mini motor park, as mini buses, popularly called Korope, tricycles and even commercial motorcycles make brisk money. Passengers dropped at the boundary resort to them to get to their final destinations, which are as far as Idimu, Ikotun, Command, Ipaja,
Ayobo, Agbado Kollington and other areas. A banker with one of the new generation banks, who resides at Odo Osi in Ota, Ogun State, Uche Edmund, described the experience as horrible.
He said: “The distance between my house and the Odo boundary is just five minutes drive, but while I get there under six minutes, it may take me over two hours to sort myself out at the border in order to get a pass. After getting to the other side of Lagos, getting vehicle on time is another challenge. “Coming back is the most arduous. Even though we close by 3pm and I usually leave office between 4pm and 4.30pm, but due to the rush to beat the 8pm curfew time, the traffic snarl begins to build long before one even gets to the border.
“That notwithstanding, the major challenges I always encounter is alighting from one bus and trekking through the boundary in search of another vehicle to convey me home. Most times, the fare is three times higher. In addition to this, security personnel enforcing compliance with the curfew are always on hand to harass even those that are on essential duty.”
The situation at the old tollgate in Sango on the Lagos- Abeokuta road is similar to the case of Odo boundary. Brick barricades are mounted across the road, leaving only a section open for vehicular traffic. The long queue of heavy- duty vehicles and a number of cars has forced commercial buses to drop their passengers mid way, where they have to trek hundreds of metres to the Lagos section of the road.
While motorists and pedestrians have their way in the day, the story is different at night, as most of them, including essential workers, have to seek alternative routes to get back home, with some forced to abandon their vehicles at the barricades erected by security operatives.
Alhaji Kilani Omosebi, who sells spare parts at the Jankara Market in Agbado, said he goes through gruelling times while making his way to and from the market.
According to him, apart from the long distance, which he treks before getting on a bus, he now spends N1, 400 for transportation daily as against N400 to N500 before the pandemic broke out.”
A commuter bus driver, Uchendu
Lawrence said what should have been strict enforcement of the border closure is compromised by security agents, who are using it to extort members of the public.
“What most people do, especially the rich is to engage police officers to travel with them. With that, they can pass through any boundary without any one trying to stop them. As good as the decision to close the border is, the issue of extortion and favouritism on the part of the police will not work towards achieving the expected objectives.”
If there is any factor that has exposed the brazen corruption Nigeria represents, then the security arrangement at the River Niger Bridge is it. Little wonder the Anambra State Government erected a metal gate and put the place under lock and key to check the free movement of people to and from the two states during the 8pm to 6am curfew, a decision that did not go down well with the Delta State Government, which saw the action as a handshake beyond the elbow, especially as it negates the federal government’s directive on those on essential duties and vehicles conveying essential commodities, such as foodstuff, petroleum products and farm produce, among others.
From about 200 meters away from the former Abraka Market, which was recently demolished because of the activities of criminals, to the head bridge that borders the two states, about four main road barricades were seen, with the Covid- 19 task force members brandishing different sizes of wooden batons and sticks on defiant commuters. Though their official duty was to enforce the orders of Delta State Ifeanyi Okowa by ensuring that only vehicles on essential services were allowed access into and out of the state, but a visit to the location proved contrary, as each of the barricades served as a toll gate, where wheelbarrows, commercial motorcycles, tricycles and commercial buses owners are made to make illegal payments, with task force members watching with glee.
At the former toll gate, where a Hilux van was parked with four members of the task force seated at the back, wearing the team’s tag, a middle aged man was seen collecting N100 from each tricycle driver.
A few metres close to ‘ God Is Good Motors’ garage is a Police checkpoint, with a young man in mufti collecting N100 from each tricycle, while market women with their loads on wheelbarrows paid between N50 and N100, depending on the strength of their bargain and quantity of load being conveyed.
Then just after the ‘ C’ Division Police Station by the head bridge are flurry of activities, with a senior Police officer directing affairs, while Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC) personnel were at a checkpoint and a group of boys were seen extorting money openly from fully- loaded commercial buses, not minding the social distancing or wearing facemasks as ordered by the state and federal governments.
A market woman, Mrs. Jecinta Ogoegbu, who was returning from Onitsha with her goods on a wheelbarrow had a near fist cuff with some touts demanding N100, as she retorted: “How many people will I be paying this money to?”
In a chat with The Guardian, she explained: “These people are just wicked, making things so difficult for traders. After buying expensive things at Onitsha Market and trekked that distance, they will be here demanding money at every point. Does the lockdown mean illegal collections without receipts?”
A commercial tricycle operator, Chidi Nweke, added: “This is surely a bonanza time for the security people and the touts that they are working illegally with. Imaging these people ( security men) who are supposed to be checking and ensuring that people are obeying government orders collecting N100 from each of the over 1,000 tricycles keke that ply this route.
“They come in morning and night shifts, making so much money from us.”
It would be recalled that due to the illegality at the head bridge, which had thwarted government directives on inter- state lockdown, the Anambra State Government decided to erect a metal barricade and locked out everybody, leading a gridlock that stretched from the head bridge to almost the Asaba Airport in neighbouring Delta State.
In Awka, an Anambra State Government source said it erected the barriers at border posts to stop smuggling of persons by security operatives.
Read the remaining part of this story on www. guardian. ng