By Vincent Ujumadu A commercial tricycle operator in Awka yesterday got a beating of his life from a group of touts for insisting on...
By Vincent Ujumadu
A commercial tricycle operator in Awka yesterday got a
beating of his life from a group of touts for insisting on not paying cash to
them as directed by the new governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles
Soludo.
The governor had during his inauguration last week directed
that commercial vehicle operators, including trycycle and motorcycle, should no
longer pay cash to touts operating in the name of revenue generation across the
state.
He said that an acceptable system of revenue collection
would be put in place to ensure that people were not unduly taxed. In most
towns in the state, touts print illegal tickets which they use to collect money
from drivers.
It was gathered that the touts, numbering three, had
accosted the Keke driver at the park close to the popular UNIZIK junction and
demanded the normal N200 fee before commencing the daily business.
The driver however told them that he heard the new governor
warning people not to pay cash to anybody henceforth, a statement that
infuriated the touts.
The trycycle operator
was said to have told them to go and look for something else to be doing, as
touting had expired in Anambra State, unless they were the only people who had
not heard that Soludo had banned touting in the state.
But the touts insisted on collecting the money and told him
they were not ready for jokes. In fact, one of them also told the Keke
operator to call Soludo and tell him
that they demanded the money.
They also told him that Soludo had just come, adding that he
does not know how the system operates.
It was at this point that they pounced on him until he fell.
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