RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Francis Izuchukwu Udobi, a tipper driver narrowly escaped death in the early hours of Friday 13th June, 2025 when hoodlums said to be working for officials of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA) attacked him and unleashed terror and mayhem on him and his conductor in front of Young Shall Grow park Upper Iweka Onitsha, shortly after he parked his truck to collect a waybill sent to him from Lagos state.
The tipper driver who narrated his ordeal to HEADLINE NEWS, said the sad incident occurred at about 5:30 am on that fateful day. He said he parked his truck with his conductor inside it and went into the Young Shall Grow park to collect a waybill only for him to spot five hefty men who swooped on his truck beating his conductor and raiding his vehicle.
He said he rushed out immediately to know what was amiss only for the ARTMA recruited miscreants to panel-beat him with weapons to the point of death as the criminals almost chopped off one of his arms.
The tipper driver who is currently being hospitalized amidst palpitating pains, said it took the timely intervention of people in the busy Lagos Park Onitsha to rescue him and his conductor from untimely deaths, stressing that the criminals stole all valuable items in the truck including money for diesel and absconded with them.
The ill-fated tipper driver said unfortunately luck ran out of one of the criminals and he was caught and dealt with severely.
When contacted for his position on the matter, Chairman of the Onitsha zone tipper drivers association Comrade Chukwuebuka Unekwe lamented that what happened to Mr. Francis Izuchukwu Udobi was one out of the numerous molestations and intimidations that tipper drivers are subjected to in Onitsha and other parts of Anambra State.
Unekwe stated that tipper drivers have been subjected to all manner of victimization by ARTMA officials in Onitsha such that even when they complain to the Managing Director of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA) little or nothing is done to ameliorate the situation.
Unekwe disclosed that even if they put Triangle Sign on the road to indicate that the truck is bad, ARTMA operatives will remove the triangles inorder to incriminate them with wrong parking and in the process, sieze their batteries which they are compelled to redeem with the sum of N250,000 in cash at ARTMA office in Onitsha.
He complained that tipper drivers are suffering a lot in the hands of ARTMA officials in Onitsha. That in as much as tipper drivers wouldn't want to cause chaos in Onitsha over ill-treatments unleashed on them by the state traffic officers, he said tipper drivers maybe compelled to resist any further attempts to inflict pains on their members. This he said may not be in the interest of the governor's second term reelection.
He alleged that ARTMA officials recruited daredevil miscreants who operated in the early hours of the day without uniforms led by one Isi Mma to attack motorists at Upper Iweka and extort money from them. According to him, another group of people operating in a shuttle bus and working for one Ochudo are the nightmare tipper drivers are facing in Onitsha.
Unekwe stated that what the group does is to remove triangles and confiscate batteries which they take to their offices. He also expressed concern with the way drivers are beaten by the ARTMA officials, stressing that over 10 batteries of their trucks have been seized by ARTMA and that each time they go to recover their vehicle batteries, the ARTMA officials demand N250, 000 for each battery.
Although the Onitsha zone chairman of the tipper drivers maintained that the ARTMA boss has been very cooperative and compassionate with tipper drivers because each time he complained to him about the sufferings of his colleagues In the hands of his men, he called them to order and warned them against overstepping their boundaries in the course of their operations but the recalcitrant officers amongst them will always drag the governor's name and the agency's name to the mud with their nefarious activities.
Unekwe therefore informed that their colleague Mr. Francis Izuchukwu Udobi whose hand was almost cut off by the hoodlums who attacked him and his conductor, is lying critically ill in agony and pains at the hospital and requires urgent help.
Meanwhile the Managing Director of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA) Mr. Emeka Okonkwo (Konti) stated categorically that the agency does not charge anybody N250,000 for retrieval of batteries, describing the allegation as totally false. He said anyone who claims ARTMA has done so to him or her should show receipt or any proof of such.
The ARTMA boss said that the agency is used to negative propaganda as people would deliberately and intentionally talk down on the organization that is working very efficiently.
Another very salient issue the ARTMA boss addressed was the issue of alleged recruitment of ununiformed touts to do ARTMA jobs. He said anybody who is not on uniform does not represent the agency and that ARTMA works hand in hand with the Anambra State Anti-Touting Agency to arrest any ARTMA official that is not properly dressed let alone not wearing uniform at all, adding that every ARTMA officer has a unique identification number on his uniform.
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