Driving With Tears in Warri and Effurun
By
Warri
The activities of dubious car sticker touts in Warri metropolis and Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, has reached an alarming level that one has no choice but to lend his voice to the clamour that Governor James Ibori, should as a matter of urgency, clear these miscreants off our roads, outlaw them and save motorists the daily nightmare.
These thugs, marauding as government agents, usually hang around points where vehicular hold-ups are tedious. Such popular areas as the Igbudu Primary School,
up to the heart of Enerhen Junction, the Effurun/Ughelli roundabout, Jakpa junction, specifically between the Uvwie Community Bank and the junction, the PTI
junction from the Effurun end of it, Okere road between the prison and the bridge. At these various spots, the thugs, with fearful looks and numbering about
five, stalk one as he pulls up behind the car in front. In a jiffy, the car in your front is surrounded by these miscreants and you simply watch helplessly until it gets
to your turn to be robbed. They approach very aggressively and menacingly, peeping into your car to confirm whether there is a radio, at the same time bellowing orders
for you to cooperate. What you see next is a gun and you are cleaned. If your car is air- conditioned, they threaten to shoot through the side glass. Meanwhile, other
motorists behind watch and wait patiently for their turn. And the hold-up would not flow. And one cannot make a detour.
I had a very sad experience recently when the hoodlums felt my left trouser pocket, grab it and pull a knife with which they cut off the pocket and made away
with its content. In the process, a part of the flesh was cut off from my lap. I remained on that same spot bleeding for close to fifteen minutes before the
hold cleared.
Majority of these thugs found between Enerhen junction and the Effurun/Ughelli roundabout wore ID Cards of Uvwie LGA Council. In a scuffle with one of them at
the PTI junction, passersby who came to the victim's rescue succeeded in seizing the ID card of one of their members and the information on it are: "Name - Gods
Power Okoro; Uvwie Local Government Sub Committee on Revenue for Radio Sticker/Television Licence; Task Force; Date issued - 16/5/2002; If found, please return
to the Chairman, Sub-Committee on Revenue for Radio Sticker/Television License."
April 2003