Commuters and students of Bishop Delisle College have expressed worries about the difficulty in crossing the busy Ibrahim Taiwo road in Lokoja because of detained heavy duty vehicles parked along the road by Police.
Speaking with our reporter on Friday, some students decried the activities of officer of the Motopol, the police station situated opposite the school.
They expressed concerns about safety of students who have to cross the road when resuming and at closing hours every school day.
A student, Ann Owolabi complained about the prolonged presence of detained trucks and tankers along the road. She noted that the parked trucks hamper their view when attempting to cross the road.
“It is always difficult to cross the road, especially in the afternoon when the road experience heavy traffic. The school and police authorities must do something about this. We don’t have to wait until a school student is knocked down before we act,” she complained.
A commuter, Salisu Abdul, the prolonged detention of vehicles by Police is a potential danger to students and workers of Bishop Delisle and National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). He noted that himself and others who have to trek through the road on a daily basis are worried as well.
“The continuous obstruction of traffic is worrisome. When one truck leaves, two others are brought in. They hinder free flow of both human and vehicular movement.
“The Police station here is not spacious enough to accommodate all seized and detained vehicles so they have to park these trucks and tankers along the road. The Police force should find a way of dispensing justice speedily or relocate the detained trucks to bigger stations.
“We have been complaining for a while now but no one is listening to us. There are insinuations that this particular station is manned by corrupt officers who detain vehicles to extort huge sums from the owners. They impound motor cycles, cars and trucks and park them here until the owners pay. The commissioner of Police need to investigate their activities,” he said.
