By CHRISTIAN NJOKU

The Cross River Government has banned the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) from road operations across the state.

The State Governor, Mr. Bassey Otu, who made the announcement in Calabar on Saturday, restricted activities of the VIO to office duties.

According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Linus Obogo, the directive followed protests by commercial bus drivers and tricycle operators over high tickets, excessive fines and alleged harassment by enforcement teams.

The governor, who made other announcements in the sector, said the measures were approved after a meeting with key transport stakeholders.

According to the statement, other announcements made was the reduction of daily ticket fee from N850 to N500, while the penalty for failure to purchase the ticket had also been reduced to N10,000.

“All traffic-related fines be slashed by 50 per cent and must be paid only into designated Cross River Government accounts.

“Daily ticket for tricycle riders have been reduced from N1,200 to N500,

however, every activity of commercial tricycle operators ends at 6 p.m. daily, night operations are permanently banned,” Otu asserted.

He said the review was aimed to ease the burden on drivers and restore order in the state’s transport system.

Speaking further, the governor said the Commercial Transport Regulatory Agency (CTRA) would now focus on vehicle registration and sale of tickets at approved rates.

He noted that enforcement officers must operate only in proper uniforms and with verifiable identification.

He directed the Traffic Management and Regulatory Agency (TRAMRA) to restrict its activities to statutory traffic management duties.

In addition, the governor announced that “commercial bus drivers and tricycle riders will no longer purchase tickets on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.”

“These directives will take effect from March 9, and I urge all residents and transport operators to cooperate with relevant authorities.

However, speaking to NAN, some commercial drivers said the statement did not address some activities of TRAMRA such as the illegal “no parking order” for drivers who only pick and drop passengers.

For Johnson Ade, a commercial driver, said there should be an official release stating the traffic infractions in the state and the fine for each of them.

He said slashing the fines by 50 per cent was ambiguous, adding that the amounts to be paid for each crime should be clearly stated to prevent criminal elements who posed as government traffic regulatory officials from abusing the directive.

On his part, Mr Sunday Dennis, Metropolitan Chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), said they would convene a meeting immediately to critically look at the governor’s statement.

It would be recalled that series of protests by commercial bus drivers and tricycle operators had led to the suspension of all forms of transport tickets in the state by the government. (NAN)

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