Ruth NWORIE
Tricycle riders, popularly called keke, in Rivers State have taken to the streets of Port Harcourt to protest the high levies imposed on them by those they call agberos, in the Rivers State capital.
The riders lamented the outrageous sum they are forced to pay daily after already buying official tickets for ₦1,000 each day.
When TNN News interviewed one of the riders, identified as Godswill, he expressed his frustration, saying the constant payment to the agberos, were unbearable. He pleaded with the state government to intervene, warning that if the situation continued, most riders would have nothing after a day’s work.
A passenger, Miss Blessing, who spoke while inside one of the tricycles, also complained about the increase in transport fares, which she said was caused by the heavy levies collected by the area boys.
Godswill further explained that riders were compelled to pay for both state and local government tickets daily at ₦1,000, and would still pay ₦200 at each of about three checkpoints to agberos before reaching their destinations.
“By the time you add everything, we spend more than ₦1,000 a day. How much do we even make?” he asked.
Another rider, who gave his name simply as Mr. Peter, who identified himself as the chairman of tricycle riders in Eneka, said they had complained several times but the agberos refuse to stop. He appealed to the state government to use its good office to remove them from the roads, adding that riders were tired of struggling to feed, only to hand over their earnings to the agberos.
The protest, which started in Rumuola, spread to other parts of the town, as more riders joined in demanding an end to multiple levies.
