Onitsha Niger Bridgehead, melting point for Police, Military, Para-military road block extortion – rights group

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By Alphonsus Nweze, Onitsha

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety ),2024 reports on South East and South South of Nigeria has adjudged the Onitsha Bridgehead and environs in Anambra State as the most notorious for sundry corrupt practices and brutalities by the military, Police , Para-military and even private extortionists.

According to the group in page 110 of the report tagged: Nigeria: “Ocean of Innocent Blood Flowing in the East “, the areas known for these corrupt extortions and brutalities are:Uga Street Junction,Atani Road junction, Ogbogwu(Drug) Market market/Tools and Allied Market Junction, Niger Bridge to Electronics Market/defunct Premier axis along Asaba-Enugu Expressway.

The report authored by the chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of Intersociety, Nze Emeka Umeagbalasi and others ,said those involved in the extortions and brutalities were various Police Divisions in the area including Bridgehead,Fegge Division, Okpoko Police Division,Harbour Industrial Estate Division even the Onitsha Central Police Division as well as officers and personnel of Nigerian Navy in Ogbaru manning Atani Road Junction Naval Checkpoint.

The mode of operation for the Police operating at the Service Lane along Asaba-Onitsha Expressed was to patrol the place with hired vehicles especially buses and tricycles hunting for traders carrying cartons of drugs wether licit or illicit.

These police men, alleged Intersociety report,were equally recruited to escort traders carrying cartons of goods, suspected to be illicit tramadol, codeine or other related drugs.

The rights group also alleged that some of these Policemen were procured by unscrupulous traders “to waybill illicit drugs or provide security during offloading of their containers”.

The officers and men of Nigerian Navy stationed at Atani Road/Uga Junction as well as their counterparts from 63 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Asaba, Delta State end of Niger Bridgehead were not left out in the extortions.

Intersociety said those Military personnel and Policemen create artificial traffic gridlocks at both sides of Onitsha and Asaba ends of the bridge to allow them carry out their extortion of road users as they wanted.
The group said the amount collected from vehicles that ply the bridge vary according to the sizes with trucks and their likes paying between N3,000 and N5000 in each of the checkpoints, 911 lorry, N2,000 to 5,000, trailer, N5,000 to N10,000, 20/40ft container truck,N5,000 to N10,000, tanker load of oil and gas,N5,000 to N10,000.