The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has condemned the heavy presence of the military and personnel of other security agencies on South East roads.
Disturbed by the ugly trend, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, George Obiozor, recently hosted the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Maj-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, at the National Secretariat of the body.
During their meeting, Ohanaeze Ndigbo explained to the Commandant the inhuman treatments the civilians undergo under the very armed forces whose primary duty was to protect them.
Obiozor lamented various forms of indignities that the people of South East encounter in the hands of the security operatives and demanded from the GOC, a security network that conformed to the best global practices. National Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, yesterday, said the situation appeared to have further aggravated with checkpoints seen in every two kilometres in the region.
According to him, this was at variance with what was obtainable in other parts of the country. Ogbonnia gave instance of Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership’s recent visit to Abeokuta, Ogun State to celebrate with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his 85th birthday.
He said: “We travelled by road from Lagos to Abeokuta, Ogun State, to celebrate Chief Olusegun Obasanjo at 85. To my chagrin, there was no single roadblock from Lagos to Abeokuta. In contra-distinction, every two kilometers in the South East has a roadblock. You would see an army roadblock, police roadblock, Federal Road Safety Corps roadblock, Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) roadblock, NDLEA roadblock or a combination of all, etc. Most disturbingly, each of the checkpoints extorts money, openly and shamelessly, from the road users.”
