Irked by incessant touting and armed robbery being experienced in Anambra State on daily basis, the President of Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, ONICCIMA, Chief Kevin Obieri, Monday, urged Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to beef up security.
In a press release he issued to newsmen in Onitsha, termed, “Ease of doing business in Anambra State-Is the Governor listening”, the President said that ONICCIMA has been inundated with reports from residents on the illegal activities of revenue collectors and armed robbers which prompted them to ask if Governor Soludo was not aware of what the people were going through.
“ONICCIMA has been inundated with concerns from our members, sections of the organized private sector, and the Anambra general public regarding the current REVENUE DRIVE of the Anambra State Government which is beginning to shape up as an unbearable yoke on the lives of the people, contrary to what they used to experience.
“While the Chamber commends the Sate Government on its effort to shore up Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, to enable the administration to meet its obligation to the people, it is worrisome that the efforts may have inadvertently created an avenue for violation of the rights of citizens, and all manner of vices, under the guise of enforcing government revenues: drive,” he stated.
To buttress his point he cited Radio Sapientia 95.3 FM, morning programme, where he said that several residents of the State called in to complain about the high-handed persons presumably working for the government who according to him go about harassing private vehicle owners and extorting them for very minor offenses.
“Some of the residents even claimed that these persons have Point-of-Sale, (POS), terminals which they use to force people to part with money for the said infractions. There was a report as well of a commercial bus driver who was hit on the head with a spanner by these thugs who move about in mini buses terrorizing the citizens because he refused to yield to their intimidation even after explaining that his bus developed a fault and needed to be repaired.
“There are also reports of the growing case of daylight robberies happening around parts of Onitsha. From stealing commercial kekes to the dispossession of persons of their valuables. These nefarious activities are becoming a smear on the precious image of the Anambra State, the light of the nation. We also have reported cases of touts and miscreants finding their way back into the very system despite the supposed ban by the state government,” he hinted.
The President lamented that wiith all these happenings, the Chamber is worried about the inability of the current administration to address these challenges and put in place legal and enlightened and civil means and ways of revenue drive as expected.
“There is growing discontentment among the masses towards the government and things might get out of hand if not handled properly,” he warned.
