Posted by By Anayo Okoli on
THE face-off between Anambra State Government and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), over management of motor parks in the state has deepened, with NARTO alleging that the state government has concluded plans to ‘import' Bakassi Boys from Aba, Abia State to eject them from the motor parks.
AWKA - THE face-off between Anambra State Government and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), over management of motor parks in the state has deepened, with NARTO alleging that the state government has concluded plans to ‘import' Bakassi Boys from Aba, Abia State to eject them from the motor parks.
Government in a swift reaction denied the allegation, saying it does not need Bakassi Boys from Aba to sack NARTO from the parks. Government said that NARTO was illegal in the state and that the association must be sacked from the motor parks in the state.
But NARTO maintains that it is occupying the parks legally with a court order mandating it to manage the motor parks for four years. They challenged the state government to approach the court to set aside the order or leave them to continue with their legal business.
The Police said they are not aware of the alleged plan by the government to import Bakassi Boys from Aba, but quickly added that their men are on ground to keep the peace of the state.
Making the allegations while addressing journalists in his office in Onitsha, NARTO Chairman, Chief Bernard Nwankwo alleged that a top government official has been mandated to secure the service of the Bakassi Boys to sack them from the motor parks in the state in spite of the court order that empowers them to manage parks for four years.
"I don't know what we did wrong to deserve molestation from the government. We also learnt from top security reports that able bodied men numbering 9,000 have allegedly so far been recruited from Alor, Awka and Ogbaru, under the umbrella of Anambra Vigilante Services to back up the Bakassi Boys in their alleged planned attack.
But the state government, reacting through Governor Chris Ngige's Special Assistant on Special Duties, Chief Okey Muo-Aroh, denied the allegations, saying it did not need to import Bakassi Boys from Aba when they have people who can remove NARTO from the parks. Describing NARTO as illegal in the state, Muo-Aroh said:
"The state government has given me the responsibility to flush NARTO out of the motor parks and I will do it. Any body opposing government runs a risk of getting hurt. "