Outrage as Awka North Mayor Allegedly Uses Agunechemba Against Keke Drivers

The Mayor of Awka North Local Government Area, Hon. ThankGod Anago, has been accused of using operatives of the Agunechemba local security outfit to intimidate and harass commercial tricycle (Keke) operators into relocating from the approved Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park to another park allegedly not approved by the Anambra State Ministry of Transport.
The tricycle operators also alleged that the mayor is using Agunechemba operatives to intimidate them into submission, while officials of the Awka North Revenue Committee are allegedly demanding a registration fee of N10,000 from each operator .

The operators and other stakeholders in the tricycle transport business alleged that the mayor deployed Agunechemba operatives to the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park to prevent drivers from loading passengers there and to compel them to relocate to another park allegedly linked to his associates.
A visit by Insideoutnews to the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park revealed the presence of more than 10 Agunechemba operatives who were seen chasing tricycle operators away from the junction park and directing them to another location.
Insideoutnews also gathered that the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park had been approved by the Anambra State Ministry of Transport, while the alternative park, where the mayor is allegedly directing operators to relocate with the assistance of Agunechemba operatives, has not received approval from the ministry.
When confronted by Mr. John Chris, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security and Team Leader of the Ministry of Transport Enforcement Team, the Agunechemba leader in Isuaniocha, Awka North Local Government Area, Mr. Goodluck Uche, reportedly admitted that his team was deployed to the scene by the mayor through the Chairman of the Awka North Revenue Committee.
According to Uche, they were stationed at the junction to enforce the mayor’s directive prohibiting tricycle operators from using the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park and directing them instead to the alternative park.
Speaking on the development, the Chairman of the Anambra State Tricycle Drivers Association, Mr. Ifeanyi Okafor, said the park currently being used by the operators was duly approved by the State Ministry of Transport, adding that he could not understand why the mayor was insisting that they relocate to what he described as an unsuitable location.
“The Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park is centrally located and easily accessible to both commuters and drivers. Passengers coming from Regina Junction, Temp Site and other surrounding areas can conveniently board or alight from tricycles there.
“It does not make sense to compel tricycle operators travelling towards Mgbakwu and other communities to drive nearly 300 metres away from the junction to another park just to drop passengers before turning back to continue their journey. This will only create unnecessary hardship for both drivers and commuters,” he said.
Okafor maintained that the purpose of government is to promote the welfare of the people rather than subject them to unnecessary inconvenience.
He stated that when discussions about relocating the park began, he informed the authorities that the arrangement would not be practical because it would force drivers travelling towards Mgbakwu to leave the main road, drive about 300 metres into another park to drop passengers, and then return to continue their journey.
According to him, such an arrangement would waste time, increase fuel consumption, and create avoidable traffic challenges.
He insisted that the operators could not abandon a centrally located, accessible and government-approved motor park for another location that is less convenient for passengers and drivers alike.
Okafor further alleged that only tricycle operators were being compelled to relocate, while buses and other commercial vehicles continued to load and offload passengers along the roadside without interference.
He questioned the rationale behind the action, asking what offence tricycle operators had committed to deserve such treatment.
Also speaking, Ozo Tony Nkem Onyeagolu, the owner of the property being used as the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park, said he cleared the abandoned premises and installed Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to monitor activities within and around the park for security purposes.
According to him, he decided to make the former filling station available for use as a private motor park after repeated requests from tricycle operators, who cited its strategic and central location as being more convenient for commuters.
He added that he willingly released the property because he was not making use of it now and currently resides outside Nigeria with his family.
When contacted by telephone, the Mayor of Awka North Local Government Area, Hon. ThankGod Anago, denied allegations that anyone was being compelled to register or pay any fee before operating from the alternative motor park.
According to him, the issue was not about registration but about the location of the junction park.
He argued that no motor park should be located at a major road junction because it poses safety and traffic concerns.
“It is not possible to site a motor park at a road junction. It is not done anywhere. Nobody approved that place to be used as a motor park. It was formerly a filling station,” he said.
The mayor further stated that when the property was operating as a filling station, the state government directed its operators to vacate the premises because of its location.
“If the government considered the location unsuitable for a filling station, I wonder why anyone would now want to use it as a motor park. There is no approved motor park at that junction,” he added.
Responding to claims that the State Ministry of Transport approved the Isuaniocha Junction Motor Park, Anago dismissed the alleged approval letter as fake.
He argued that the Ministry of Transport could not legally approve the establishment of a motor park within a local government area without notifying or involving the local government authority.
“The Ministry of Transport cannot establish a motor park without copying the Mayor of the Local Government Area. Someone cannot sit in Awka and approve a motor park in a community without the knowledge of the local government. This is not a banana republic,” he said.
On the allegation that tricycle operators were being asked to pay N10,000 as a registration fee, the mayor denied any knowledge of such a demand.
“I am not aware of anybody collecting money or asking tricycle operators to pay for registration at that park. Nobody has been authorised by me to collect any registration fee from anybody,” he stated.