A motorist, who gave his name only as Nduka, believed that some road officers were attacked on duty because they exhibited wickedness and only interested in taking bribes.
He stated that many mischievous traffic officers were always happy to see people violate the law in order to fleece them.
Nduka said, “There was a day some traffic officers created artificial gridlock to enable them to catch erring drivers. Before we knew what was happening, they had arrested many drivers and booked them for as much as N50,000.
“How do you expect such a person to behave next time when he comes across traffic officers? Such a person, no doubt, will want to evade arrest. These are some of the reasons we have the kind of situation we are experiencing.”
Another commercial driver, who identified himself only as Jones, explained that attacks on traffic officers would continue until they stopped turning commercial drivers into cash cow.
He said commercial bus drivers coughed up a lot of money as bribes, noting that such development usually triggered anger between traffic officers and drivers.
Jones stated, “Whether your papers are correct, the traffic officers will always find reasons to stop you. In most cases, they delay you unnecessarily until you speak their language, which is to part with some money before they let you go.
“There was an occasion when my vehicle was stopped. They demanded my vehicle particulars. I brought everything and gave to them. One of them looked at me and said, ‘Are you a novice? Don’t you know that there are other particulars? Ask some of your colleagues in case you don’t know what to do. Let me ask you again: what is your number for today? Are you not aware that people are given numbers and that whenever they say their numbers, they are let go without further delays?’
“I will advise traffic officers to show some empathy towards motorists. They are paid with taxpayers’ money and they should stop treating us as stupid persons.”
He stated that many mischievous traffic officers were always happy to see people violate the law in order to fleece them.
Nduka said, “There was a day some traffic officers created artificial gridlock to enable them to catch erring drivers. Before we knew what was happening, they had arrested many drivers and booked them for as much as N50,000.
“How do you expect such a person to behave next time when he comes across traffic officers? Such a person, no doubt, will want to evade arrest. These are some of the reasons we have the kind of situation we are experiencing.”
Another commercial driver, who identified himself only as Jones, explained that attacks on traffic officers would continue until they stopped turning commercial drivers into cash cow.
He said commercial bus drivers coughed up a lot of money as bribes, noting that such development usually triggered anger between traffic officers and drivers.
Jones stated, “Whether your papers are correct, the traffic officers will always find reasons to stop you. In most cases, they delay you unnecessarily until you speak their language, which is to part with some money before they let you go.
“There was an occasion when my vehicle was stopped. They demanded my vehicle particulars. I brought everything and gave to them. One of them looked at me and said, ‘Are you a novice? Don’t you know that there are other particulars? Ask some of your colleagues in case you don’t know what to do. Let me ask you again: what is your number for today? Are you not aware that people are given numbers and that whenever they say their numbers, they are let go without further delays?’
“I will advise traffic officers to show some empathy towards motorists. They are paid with taxpayers’ money and they should stop treating us as stupid persons.”
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