The House of Representatives on Wednesday, directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba to remove all illegal roadblocks setup by the police and military on all roads across the country.
It asked the police chief to direct the commissioner of police in Anambra State to review the location of a police checkpoint sandwiched between two fuel stations on the Onitsha-Owerri expressway.
The house said that the development would forestall accidents and other disasters on the highways, especially during the festive season.
The lawmaker representing Ihiala Federal Constituency in Anambra State at the House, Ifeanyi Momah, at the plenary on Wednesday, raised the alarm over accidents being caused by roadblocks along the Onitsha-Owerri highway.
Momah in a motion titled ‘Need to Investigate Loss of So Many Lives Along the Onitsha-Owerri Express Road Within Ihiala Federal Constituency,’ said that for over two years, military and police check points have been operational to quell insecurity in the area
According to him, “Road users have since been subjected to devastating, degrading and inhumane treatment occasioned by the operation of the military and police checkpoints in that area. Being a major express road, the negative impact of this military checkpoint has been grave on the community as well as all the road users.
“In this menace, no one is spared; all suffer under the weight of the oppression. Men, women and children are forced to alight from their cars and raise their hands and pass through the checkpoint.
“Nursing and pregnant women are also not spared. In fact, nursing mothers are made to carry their babies up high as they walk across the checkpoint, sometimes being forced to walk for over 1km.
“Very recently, a pregnant woman on a bike was whipped thoroughly at the military checkpoint. Traditional rulers are also stopped and searched in an embarrassing manner, including ransacking of their traditional attire.”
He added, “The House is cognisant that the military and police checkpoints are located in the middle of the busiest road in the entire local government area, opposite Abbot Boys Secondary School Ihiala, and opposite Ihiala Divisional Police Headquarters, both located within the same axis, an area that ought not to be associated with a military checkpoint.
“As is popular knowledge, military checkpoints are to be stationed at border communities. Thus, this military checkpoint ought to be mounted at Amorka community, which is the border between lhiala Local Government Area and Imo State, and not its current location which is a commercial hub crammed with markets, businesses, schools, etc.”
The lawmaker who argued that under normal circumstances, the military checkpoints were to be stationed at border communities and not city centres, later briefed the press corps on the difficulty being faced by the people on the highways, especially in the South East.
He said that the leaders of the community have asked that the checkpoint be relocated due to the difficulties they cause.
It could be recalled that in May 30, 2020, a police makeshift road blockage alledgedly led to the cause of a fatal accident at Ihiala, which led to the death of a trailer driver and his conductor as well as over 10 bus passengers.
The most recent fatality on the road was on Saturday, November 28, 2021 in which a trailer carrying a container load of goods ran over 20 public road users who died on the spot.
However, the House mandated its Committee on Police Affairs and Legislative Compliance to ensure that illegal checkpoints should be dismantled.
