We consider it expedient to draw the attention of the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to the distasteful and uncivil practices of the so-called Dela State Task Force with Head Office situated within the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) Premises along Warri Sapele Road near the NPA. The said Delta State Task Force have been in the practice of harassing and extorting money from motorists in Warri and environs at the slightest provocation, all in the name of ensuring sanity on our roads as regards parked vehicles.
Under the guise of clearing public roads of any obstruction and wrongly parked vehicles, the said Delta State Task Force officials have resorted to fabricating all kinds of offences just to extort money from unsuspecting motorists in Warri and environs. Once any vehicle is impounded by them, the vehicle owners are coerced to cough out exorbitant amounts of money between N10,000 to as much as N50,000.
What is most disturbing is the extent the officials of the said Delta State Task Force could go just to extort money from motorists. A good example happened precisely on July 2, 2019, when the Officials of the said Delta State Task Force accosted and impounded the vehicle of one Chief Samson Janughan, the Otu-Jeremi Community Chairman, just by the U-turn near Ugboroke Layout junction along Airport Road. At first, because of the way they acted, the said Otu-Jeremi Community Chairman thought they were kidnappers or armed robbers, as they demanded that he should pay N50,000 for an offence that was never established. Despite his appeals, they escorted him with his vehicle to their Head Office. But only for them to pull over along the road as they approached the said Office, and right there in his car they demanded that he should settle them with what he can afford. After much negotiating, the said Delta State Task Force Officials then made Chief Samason Janughan to transfer N10,000 with his phone into the account of one ESIMAJE PAUL, which is obviously a personal account and not the official account of the said Delta State Task Force. The Debit Alert Details of that online transaction is attached here.
The above is just one example of the many people that fall victims to the extortion practices of the said Delta State Task Officials in the city of Warri and environs. We have also heard of cases where they escort their motorist victims to the ATM to force them to withdraw money, or make online transfers to settle them over fabricated offences on the roads. As noted by the example above, the Officials of the said Task Force even ask their motorist victims to declare the number of Accounts they have and how much is in each account, so that they will know how much to extort from you. Chief Samson Janughan had to tell them that he had only his First Bank account, which he knew had only N11,000 in it, so that they do not extort from him more than the N10,000 he negotiated with them. That is the sort of nonsense currently happening on our roads daily in Warri and environs.
We can only imagine the number of persons the Officials of this Delta State Task Force daily exploit on our roads in Warri and environs. This is totally unacceptable. We believe that if Governor Okowa wants to empower the youth, this is not the way to go about it. The said Delta State Task Force should not be used to exploit and extort money from motorists on the roads. Governor Okowa and the Delta State Government should look for better ways to empower people, and not this exploitative practice on our roads. We therefore urge that this illegality should be promptly addressed on our roads. And those Officials of the said Delta Task Force should be investigated and dealt with the full weight of the law. We cannot condole such exploitative tendencies on our roads that has the propensity to make Delta State to be seen as a crime-prevalent and lawless State.
Governor Okowa should be advised to warn and call to order, these roadside gangs of rogues that goes by the name Delta State Task Force, whose only work is to extort money from motorists. They should look for the said Paul Esimaje, and call for his arrest and refund of the 10k he and his gang extorted from the Chairman of Otu-Jeremi Community, Chief Samson Janughan. He and his gang of Task Force should also be arrested and prosecuted in the law court.
The Bank transfer alert of Chief Samson Janughan:
Your Acct 312XXXX114 Has Been Debited with NGN10,020.00 On 02-JUL-2019 12:37:32 By QS894:TRF:JANUGHAN SAMSON/ESIMAJE PAUL.
Zik Gbemre.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)
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