By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Members of the Keke Drivers Association in Anambra State have called on the state Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to call his anti-touts squad to order.

Their call came on the heels of attacks by the anti-touts group in Awka against keke drivers at Dike Junction and Okpuno.

A keke driver operating along Unizik route to Okpuno, Mr Ernest Iwunor, while speaking to newsmen, said the anti-touts squad came in a commando style and started beating their members and shooting sporadically.

According to him, the squad came and arrested some of their members, alleging that they were touts collecting money from drivers.

He explained that they pay N200 daily to the owner of the private park, adding that the park in question was a government-approved private Park collecting service fee from keke operators.

Iwunor said: “When they came inside the park, we told them that we are keke drivers, not touts. They said they came with three keke drivers who fingered them as touts in their pit, collecting money.

“We told them, no, we are not touts but keke drivers. They descended on us and started beating everybody at the park. They were shooting guns as if they were confronting armed robbers. They also used knife to attack us.

“In the process of attacking us, they broke 11 windscreens of tricycles, injured more than eight drivers and took some of our members to their office in Onitsha. Four of the brutalized persons are still in the hospital now.”

While noting that some of the arrested members were released by the anti-touts squad after paying between N13,000, N4,000 and N3,000, he urged the government to urgently call the squad to order and stop them from harassing keke drivers in the state.

“We are calling on the Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, to do something before the anti-touts squad kill keke drivers in Anambra State.

“We are law-abiding citizen, paying our taxes as at and when due. These people are representing the government but what they did yesterday was horrible and unfortunate,” he said.

According to him, the anti-touts squad should be fighting touts in those areas where they are operating and leave keke drivers alone.

He Insisted that their association would take steps to ensure that the anti-touts group pays for the damaged windscreens.

Meanwhile, similar incident also happened at Dike Junction keke parking lot on Wednesday. Though it was with less brutality, one of men that collect loading money from the keke operators was beaten and taken away while the second person escaped.

The escapee was however seen hanging around the parking lot on Thursday and still harassing keke operators to pay loading fee, but this time, from a safe distance.

In his reaction, the Coordinator of Anambra State Anti-Touts Squad, Mr Solomon Chukwuebuka, said they were on normal patrol and ran into some touts extorting money from motorists and they ran into the park.

According to him, his men pursued the alleged touts into the park, and they (alleged touts) started attacking his men, denying that they were touts.

“We were not looking for the keke drivers, rather touts who we met at the place collecting money from them. When we arrived the place, they stopped us because we came with keke and two of the touts demanded for money and we arrested one and the second person ran into park and we pursued him into the park, they started attacking us with bottles.

“It was their attack that prompted me to call for reinforcement. I led the operation, they attacked us with bottles and hit one of my men with stick and he fell down. What do they want? The same people they are complaining about extorting money from them are the same people some of them are protecting. I don’t know what they want,” Chukwuebuka said.