When the military handed over power to civilians in 1999, we were full of joy. However, it painful indeed that lawlessness did not die with the military, as the conduct of the Edo State Traffic Management officials shows. The Edo State Government needs to urgently have a rethink as regards the activities of the traffic officials in the state. My encounter with them at Okhoro road junction in Benin was a sad one. The officials stationed a rickety towing van at the junction which they used freely to bash cars whose owners refused to be extorted. The two doors of my car were destroyed deliberately because I refused to be extorted. In a democratic society, how can people be doing things with impunity? This is why I am opposed to State Police as it amounts to hanging chaos in the air. Even without guns, these traffic officials maim, injure and extort from innocent citizens, the atmosphere is full of discontentment. Governor Adams Oshiohmole should curtail the excesses of these overzealous traffic officials.
Nuhu Ologbonyo,
14, Momodu Ajayi Road, Igarra, Edo State,
+23480233759.
