There was traffic gridlock in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Thursday following

blockade of the Owerri and Port Harcourt road and Owerri/Onitsha road by truck

drivers protesting what they described as incessant harassment and extortion by

operatives of the taskforce on illegal parks in the state.

Operating under the auspices of Trailer Drivers Association, the group lamented that

some of their members’ vehicles were impounded by the task force headed by the

Special Adviser to the governor on Illegal Parks, Frank Onwumere, and his boys since

four months for no justifiable reason.

Speaking to journalists during the protest, one of the leaders of the Trailer Drivers

Association, who identified himself as Monday Ossai, who operates from Oneh Seaport,

Rivers State, explained that they blocked the two roads within Owerri Municipal to

draw the attention of government to the harassment and extortion of their members,

and accused Onwumere of tarnishing the image of the governor who they said meant

well for the people of the state.

Ossai said, in order to restore sanity, law and orderliness on the road, they are calling

on the governor to immediately sack Onwumere and bring in someone with human face

to do the work to avoid tarnishing his image and also demanded quick intervention on

the badly damaged Port Harcourt Expressway and other deplorable roads in the state to

ease traffic.

Also speaking, a truck driver who gave his name as Aliyu Haruna said, they don’t

encounter problems in other states, and it is only when they enter Imo roads that

problem always starts, adding that, there is always a blockade by the military at Obinze

once it is 9:00 pm.