Ticket sellers and road transport revenue collectors have disappeared from major junctions in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, after the state government ordered close surveillance around identified flashpoints of such operations in the city.
This is even as the Abia State Chairman of National Union Road Transport Workers, Eugene Eze Job, has advised all road transport revenue collectors in the State to obey the recent directive of Governor Alex Otti on the matter.
Job, who spoke in an announcement he made on behalf of NURTW in Abia, urged all the levy collectors to adhere to the State government’s directive.
He advised all transport union workers to restrict their activities to motor parks, as anyone caught disobeying the government’s orders would have himself to blame.
In some parts of Umuahia, it was discovered that daily ticket and emblem enforcers were not at their usual duty posts.
At Isi Gate junction, which is the busiest part of Umuahia, the usual clash between tricycle operators and ticket sellers was not experienced as the revenue agents stayed away from the roads for fear of being arrested by security agents.
The few that remained on the road exhibited uncommon friendliness towards tricycle and bus drivers.
At Abia Tower by Bende Road junction, the situation was the same as the usual presence of the suspended agents was not felt, to the relief of commercial transporters.
Also, at Ubakala, the host town of Umuahia South LGA, ticket ‘enforcers’ were not on duty at the popular Ubakala junction, which connects Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.
It would be recalled that the Deputy Governor of the State, Ikechuckwu Emetu, on Thursday carried out a monitoring exercise in Aba where some market leaders and touts were arrested and handed over to the police for disobeying the directive of Governor Otti suspending all forms of levies imposed on commercial transporters in the State.
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