Taraba cattle dealers bemoan extortion at checkpoints

Spokesman of the association, Alhaji Muhammadu Gongola, lamented that constant extortions from the association’s members has forced many of them out of the business.He alleged that the members were regularly forced to pay N1, 000 at each checkpoint on the way in the cause of transporting their cattle to different places, saying that development largely […]

Spokesman of the association, Alhaji Muhammadu Gongola, lamented that constant extortions from the association’s members has forced many of them out of the business.
He alleged that the members were regularly forced to pay N1, 000 at each checkpoint on the way in the cause of transporting their cattle to different places, saying that development largely contributed to the high cost of livestock and beef in the market.
“It is disheartening that despite the fact that we pay all the legitimate levies at the point of loading and off loading our livestock, the security personnel on the highway would still harass us and demand money from us,” he said.
Gongola said an average cattle dealer that transports a trailer load of cattle from Taraba to the South-east part of the country would used to spend over N200, 000 at the various checkpoints before reaching his destination.
He said one of their members was recently shot by a policeman at a checkpoint along Bali-Garbabi way in the state for allegedly giving the policemen N900, instead of the usual N1, 000 they collect at the checkpoint.
He said a letter of complaints has been written to the Taraba police commissioner over the incident.
He appealed to the federal government to urgently address the issue of extortions at checkpoints by security personnel, including the military, police and immigration officers.
Taraba State Police Commissioner Mr Ademola Omole at a news conference recently assured he would address the issue of alleged extortion by the police, adding that the police have zero tolerance for corruption.