Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
A female truck driver, Wednesday, blocked the ever busy Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene federal highway to protest molestation by touts.
The development led to a total lockdown of the road and traffic snarl that lasted for hours.
Motorists and commuters plying the route especially those to and fro the neighbouring Akwa Ibom State were subjected to serious agony.
The incident happened a little after Umuahia Building Material Market, Isieke, towards Umudike.
Some drivers resorted to alternate local routes to navigate the scene and connect to their destinations.
Meanwhile, the driver of the truck was not at the scene but her husband had been contacted.
A detachment of security operatives arrived the scene to help clear the road so that normal traffic flow could resume.
Some of the security agents were seen pleading with the driver’s husband to produce his wife so she could remove the truck from the road to enable other road users have easy passage.
The driver’s husband was expressing anger over the treatment meted to the wife by touts.
He, however, made efforts to contact the wife on phone but said her number was not connecting.
Some persons in the crowd were overheard sympathising with the driver and blaming the touts.
They demanded their arrest and sanction by government.
According to them, the driver was flagged down and held at the spot since Tuesday night, until Wednesday morning when she, ostensibly out of anger, decided to cause obstruction on the highway to register her grievances.
A man who introduced himself as a traffic officer said one of the touts had been arrested and taken to the police station.
When contacted, Commissioner for Information, Abia State, Prince Okey Kanu, said the Head of the Joint Task Force had been alerted, and had deployed his men to the venue to find out what actually happened.
He said that the touts should be arrested for prosecution, and the truck removed so that innocent commuters would not be punished unnecessarily.
The Commissioner re-stated the commitment of the State Government to rid Abia roads of touts and illegal revenue collectors.
Gov. Alex Otti had shortly after assuming office, embarked on clamp down on touts.
