Border closure: Ogun legislator laments hiked prices, alleged extortion

A member representing the Ipokia Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Sikiratu Ajibola, has lamented increased prices of goods at Idiroko and other border communities following the border closure and ban on fuel supply to towns within 20 kilometres radius. Ajibola alleged extortion of the residents by those she termed “bad eggs” among […]

A member representing the Ipokia Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Sikiratu Ajibola, has lamented increased prices of goods at Idiroko and other border communities following the border closure and ban on fuel supply to towns within 20 kilometres radius.

Ajibola alleged extortion of the residents by those she termed “bad eggs” among operatives of the Joint Task Force in charge of the border drill.

The legislator told journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, that the task force operatives confiscated some locally made goods that some residents of her constituency had bought and were transporting to Idiroko and other communities.

Ajibola, who was elected on the platform of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), said “unnecessary checks” by the operatives had created traffic logjam on the narrow bridge on the Yewa River, Ajilete.

According to her, the bridge may collapse any moment due to how the operatives detain trucks carrying heavy goods on it when there should be free flow of vehicular movement.

The lawmaker said, “Out of the numerous border communities in Nigeria only residents of the Ipokia local government and its environs are treated with disdain.

“During the yuletide, citizens travelling to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with their families were exploited by the bad eggs of the Joint Task Force and consumer goods, which included perishable ones like fish, were seized. I want to add that seized trucks parked on the narrow Sango to Idiroko border road are posing a dangerous threat to the lives of commuters.”

She pleaded with Governor Dapo Abiodun to wade into the matter with a view to alleviating the suffering of the communities.

The spokesperson of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun Area Command I, Abdullahi Maiwada, told Daily Trust yesterday that the lawmaker should intimate the command with specific issues of alleged extortion.

Maiwada said the command would investigate the allegations and mete out sanctions to officers found culpable.

He explained that the traffic logjam on the Ajilete bridge was due to increased number of vehicles along the routes, adding that the task force had done everything “humanly possible” to control the traffic.

“Go and check and evaluate, seven out of 10 vehicles on the road are reconstructed vehicles being used to carry rice and fuel with the intention to smuggle those products out of the country.

“By the time you have a high volume of those vehicles going to and fro, buying and offloading fuel, there is bound to be checks. And it is our duty to check smuggling and enforce laws,” Maiwada said.