Between The Police, Vigilante And Indigenes Of Auchi Sacred Kingdom

By: Jeremiah Enaholo Kadiri

This may come as a surprise to a lot of persons who already have been made to think that all is well in the peaceful cosmopolitan town of Auchi Sacred Kingdom but for yet another lot of people, this is a norm. In fact, waking up and not seeing touts on the streets is the current abnormalcy in most areas of our beloved home.

I do not wish to dent or bring anyone’s image down in the course of this piece but many will feel targeted, and as such it is expedient that after getting in contact with this piece, and if for any reason you feel that the proverbial palm oil has been spilled on you, do well to wash your stained clothes and try as much as possible to steer clear off the path leading to spilling oil. I’ll mention no names but the local parlance “or pie’ewey orkha piey’ewey, or rhu’ewey or rhu’ewey”  will come to play.

Let’s kick off from the Igbe road back-and-forte ‘palava’ between the commoner and the ones in authority to create, maintain and sustain infrastructure. Over the Gregorian calendar year of 2019, there have been lots of literature done on the decayed road whose problems were later compounded in the third quarter of the year when a construction company was contracted to allay the fears of road users but later the project was abandoned and no sooner than the road was abandoned was there yet another problem for the marketers along the road as customers could no longer find their way to shops in the area. This became one too many problems facing the common man trying to make ends meet in a place that can only be assessed by Igbe road. This particular reason led to the hibernation of the Popular Bendel and Jovenson Supermarkets.

The offshoot of the aforementioned is the resultant touting that is currently pervading the Aibotse-Igbe communities were taxi drivers and motorcyclists are now being taxed for using the roads in the communities that lead to the good upper portion of Igbe road.  These young men operate in broad-day light by laying siege on popular roads, unperturbed with their tools of work to block roads _allowing only those who offer not less than 50 Naira pass through. They have in a way legitimized the job in their thinking by marking each vehicle or motorcycle with either a red board marker or blue, indicating bike A marked red has paid in full while blue is for those who may have given a little less than the touts’ expectations. Failure to pay earns the commuter long unnecessary minutes or even hours of delay not to mention the fact that you are prone to being abused by these same illegitimate road blockers.

On the 19th of December a chieftain and head of the Auchi vigilante squad after being exposed to information about how some youths of Aibotse-Igbe communities were seen collecting fares from okada riders just behind the Ikelebe Sports Arena, promised to deploy his men to the area to nip any illegalities going on there before it degenerates, but what is obtainable today, in that area, remains an unauthorized transaction forced on users of the road who are already battling with hiked transport fares as a result of the poor state of Igbe road. The act even as I write has gained weight because they now have branches on major roads around the Aibotse-Igbe axis.

Just this morning (24th December, 2019.) I boarded a bike from Olele Junction after the Akpekpe Central Mosque and as usual the Okada man took me through Jattu road and took the street besides the former Tanias Eatery in Aibtse and behold, on that street was a hold up. From afar one would have thought there was an accident therein but on getting closer I realized that young angry looking boys who had block off the road were the ones collecting monies as ransom for freeing commuters on the path to and from both ends of the road. The interesting thing is that another chieftain lives in this part of Aibotse and more so, this area is a stone-throw from the Police Divisional Headquarters.

Interesting right? Well how can we curb this issue is a question that comes to mind as it is (to me) an established problem having carefully looked at the illegalities around same. 

However, while thinking of the possible solutions that could remedy the name-denting activities of touting in Auchi Sacred Kingdom, I’m again faced with hopelessness as the authorities who my mind currently hover over as the ones to make a positive change, have not performed well in their constituencies. If anything, one would begin to think they too are collaborators in the ensuing blossoming commerce of theft.

It is easy to call on the police to come see what is happening under their nose but then is that not a clear case of calling a black kettle to come be the judge of a pot on duty? There is no gain saying how this same law enforcement agency has underplayed in its functions and more so downplayed its glorified status as ‘the friend of the common man.’ They too have stationed mounts or call it blocks on roads leading to neighboring villages to collect their share of the cake baked from the sweats of those who ply the new Auchi-Aviele road just opposite NNPC, a few poles from Izobo junction. We have also seen how they raid streets in Sabo and Agharoma villages, picking innocent young boys for five thousand Naira pay and bail fee whenever there is report of unrest or criminal activity in the mentioned areas. We have seen how they do their jobs devoid of ethics.

Is it the Vigilante Squad of Auchi Sacred Kingdom that will bring succor or remedy the problem at hand? I doubt. This wing too has compromised in the rendering of its duties to the common man. Not too long ago on radio, their boss promised that the issue of touting will be nipped in the bud amongst other promises of keeping the people safe in the cause of the yuletide but after reading this, get an Okada that will take you through the cemetery to Igbe road by 8pm, and you will see the Vigilante collecting fares from both Okada riders and their passengers before allowing them go through. I remember vividly when these people started their work of mounting roads at night. They usually came out anytime between 9 and 10pm to monitor the roads in view of forestalling criminal activities. Today, they too have settled in, in the act of milking road users who have worked themselves up and are retiring home through the cemetery road as a result of the bad portion of Igbe main road.

Who now should the common man call to come to his aid?

What should the people of Auchi Sacred Kingdom do in the face of this dire situation before them?

I will advise that if there are still good people at the helm of affairs of the Police and Vigilante, same should know that the common people of Auchi may have no power individually but soon, they shall rise in unity against the repression of your officers who are bent on adding to the people’s worries and when they rise, both the hunter and the hunted may swap places but until then, do what must be done to ensure that your men, both officers of the police and men of the vigilante, reverse to their core mandate, to keep life and properties safe in a land wherein peace is priceless.

I hope that the Otaru of Auchi Sacred Kingdom will come in contact with this piece and use his good office to call both the Police and Vigilante to order as this act of touting, illegal collection of fares, illegitimate taxing of poor people, harassment of Okada riders on the roads and many more are gradually eroding the good name of “Home For All” that the fastest developing cosmopolitan town has earned over the years.