Motorists plying various highways in Anambra State, particularly along the Onitsha-Owerri dual carriageway, say they are suffering from heavy traffic gridlock caused by police and military roadblocks.
The Obosi by-pass under the newly completed second Niger Bridge flyover, the Ozubulu Police Area Command Headquarters, the Ekwusigo Local Government Area Headquarters in Ozubulu, and the Okija junction on the Onitsha-Owerri dual carriageway are all heavily congested.
Speaking on the situation, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Importers Association of Nigeria (IAN), Chief Gilbert Bravo Obi, urged police authorities in Anambra State to immediately dispatch senior officers to monitor the activities of their subordinates at the numerous roadblocks.
Obi lamented the hardship that the policemen cause motorists at the numerous roadblocks, adding that the road users can no longer bear the frustration.
Obi said the policemen block both sides of the highway with condemned vehicle tyres and drums, leaving only a narrow space on which they stand, and begin flagging down oncoming vehicles.
According to him, while the policemen are demanding one thing or the other from each of the drivers, the gridlock builds up and sometimes stretching to two miles or more.
He suggested that if police officers suspect a vehicle, they should order the driver to clear off the road for searching, while others continue their journey, rather than wasting commuters’ time and shamelessly and unnecessarily tarnishing the police force’s image and reputation, which the hierarchy had painstakingly built over time.
“People are not against police checkpoints or roadblocks on our highways because of our security challenges, but rather against the manner in which they are do it, which inconveniences law-abiding road users,” Bravo said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Tochukwu Ikenga, promised to reach out to the command monitoring unit to intensify efforts towards correcting the situation.