Protesting truck drivers in Niger get ultimatum to vacate blocked roads
The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in Niger State has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to truck drivers to vacate the Suleja-Lambata-Bida road they blocked in the state.
In a statement on Sunday, the council said the blocking of the road has led to “untold hardship” for the people in Bida and its environs.
It said, “The implications of this heinous act by these drivers who have constituted themselves not only as a nuisance but as a government within a government, blocking and stampeding major highways at the slightest provocation, thereby causing untold hardship and holding travellers to ransom, hence crippling and halting the day to day activities of other road users.
“This needs to be checked by authorities concerned or we would be forced to take laws into our own hands.
“That, we issued a 24 hours ultimatum to Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners and Associations of Tanker Drivers to direct all the heavy-duty vehicles drivers to vacate the roads for free movement of other road users.”
The council said the truck drivers should issue an apology to the residents of Niger for their action.
It could be recalled that the drivers blocked the roads in and out of Bida town thereby disrupting vehicular movement, in protest over the “slow work” on the Bida-Lambata road.
READ ALSO: How protesting trailer drivers caused serious traffic gridlock in Niger (Photos)
The drivers asked the government to immediately reopen the road, which they said serves as an alternative route.
The state government also called for calm amidst untold hardship caused to innocent and law-abiding citizens, assuring that it is liaising with the Federal Controller of Works in the state to urgently repair the failed portions of the road.
The government cautioned the truck drivers to desist from taking laws into their hands and channel their grievances to the appropriate authorities stressing that embracing amicable resolution of the issue is more civil than subjecting or holding other citizens to ransom.
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