Ogun Council,transport operators at war

Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State
and some operators of Orange Cab, a
modern taxi service based in Lagos State,
are locked in battle, with the operators
accusing officials of the local government
of harassment and illegal arrest of their
members.

The operators said the recent arrests of
two of the orange cab drivers, Temitope
Adeoye and Williams Kpelly, were instances
of their ordeals in the hands of Ifo council
officials.
The drivers were arrested for parking at
Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Both drivers claimed they were tricked by
the officials only to be extorted later for
alleged illegal parking and obstruction.
Kpelly said, "I was driving along the Lagos-
Ibadan Expressway in May when some
men flagged me down at Kara. Thinking
they were potential passengers, I slowed
down and drove the car off the
expressway.

"To my surprise, the men entered my cab
and removed the car key. I asked them
what my offence was and they said I had
parked illegally. Although I protested that
they were the ones who stopped me and
that I was only doing my job, they refused
to listen.

"They drove me to the area office of the
local government and fined me N50,000. I
told them that I did not have such amount.
After some pleading, I was allowed to take
the cab away, but they collected N30,000
from me."

Adeoye, also told Newslinegossips Metro that he was
deceived into parking at the same Kara end
of the expressway by the officials of the
local government last week.
He said, "Last Wednesday, I was driving
along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; I
actually wanted to make a U-turn back to
Lagos. Before I could get to the place
where I would make the U-turn, a guy in
suit flagged me down. When I stopped, he
asked me to take him to the Redemption
Camp."

He said as they were discussing the fare,
the supposed passenger got into the car
and took its key. Shocked, Adeoye said he
questioned the stranger's actions, only to
be told that it was a government directive
that no one parked or stopped at Kara. He
said while the argument went on, three
other men on a motorcycle approached
them.

Adeoye said, "They all told me that my
offence was that I was picking up
passengers along the expressway. They
insisted on driving the car to their area
office at Ojodu Abiodun. So, I sat at the
back. On the way, they tried to coerce me
to pay N15,000 but I refused. They told me
that my situation would be worse if they
took me to their office, but I still refused.

"When we got there, my fine went up to
N35,000. There were so many other people
like myself there. I was there for hours
trying to get my cab and since I couldn't
leave it there, I had to plead with them to
accept all I had on me which was N7,000. It
was already 6pm and my tyres had been
deflated."

When Newslinegossips Metro contacted the Head of
Logistics and Enforcement, Ifo Area Office,
Mr. Bunmi Ekunngba, he said, "I am aware
of all the incidents with orange cab drivers.
I know all our boys who are on ground
enforcing our laws and there is none of
them who goes about without his uniform.
"If you are talking about the orange cab;
they are based in Lagos, but what they are
doing in Ogun State is bad. These are the
same set of people that we caught with
guns in their vehicles but they claimed
they only picked the passengers on the
road, adding that they were not aware that
the passengers were armed.
"They had stopped at Kara on the
expressway to pick up passengers but our
enforcement team went over to find out
what was going on and discovered guns in
their cars. That
place was given to Ifo Local
Government Area to handle; the
government is aware of our activities. A lot
of people have been killed at Kara,
including a retired general. That is why our
enforcement team is there."

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