With a lockdown meant to stem the spread of COVID-19 in Kaduna, our correspondents discovered that security personnel have been helping commercial vehicles travel in and out of the state, leading directly to the rise of the number of infections.
When the Kaduna State Government announced that all entry points into the state would be closed and issued a directive to security agents to turn back vehicles entering the state, many expected that the decisive order would stem the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.
With Lagos being the epicentre of the virus and Abuja the next major threat to Kaduna, the outbreak of the disease in Kano, which shares boundary with Kaduna, reflects the danger that interstate travel could pose to Kaduna unless checked.
The State Government had said the Kaduna-Abuja Road, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road, Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road, Kachia Road, the Bwari-Jere-Kagarko Road, Gumel-Kwoi-Keffi Road, Zaria-Funtua Road and the Jos-Manchock Road will all be blocked.
The Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan had said, “Only authorised traffic will be given passage. Those denied entry will be asked to return to where they were coming from. Those who express a preference for entering Kaduna State will then be taken to spend 14 days in an isolation facility.”
However, the latest cases of COVID-19 in the last two weeks; a guard who travelled from Lagos to Kaduna via public transport, and most recently, two others who came into the state from Kano had raised suspicion as to how the perceived airtight measures at Kaduna’s entry points were breached.
The ever busy Mando Park in Kaduna is one of the major centres from where vehicles commute between Kaduna, Lagos, Kwara and other states in the south west. Since the restriction on movement in the state, luxurious buses travelling to Lagos have made way for 16-seater Toyota Hiace Hummer buses and Volkswagen Sharon buses that leave Kaduna for Lagos daily. Our correspondent, who posed as a traveller, observed that the park was not as boisterous as it was before the lockdown but vehicles were seen loading passengers for Lagos and Ilorin in Kwara State in the open.
An official of the park explained that vehicles from Lagos and Oyo States arrive Kaduna with passengers daily. The park officials told our correspondent that despite the ban on interstate travels, commercial drivers still find their way into Lagos and return to Kaduna through ‘secret routes’ known to them. Though he did not disclose the routes, the official said the vehicles usually leave in the morning.
“Our drivers take passengers to Lagos and bring them back daily. A vehicle leaves for Lagos as soon as it is filled up so passengers need to be here as early as 10 am to set off on the journey,” he said.
The official stated that transport price from Kaduna to Lagos was now N7,000 against the 5,000 before the lockdown. Our correspondent however observed that each bus was allowed to carry nine passengers; three on each row, which the official said was mainly due to low patronage, not social distancing.
Daily Trust gathered that the trip to Lagos terminates at Berger; a border town between Lagos and Ogun states due to the lockdown and passengers are expected to find their way into Lagos.
On the return journey to Kaduna, our correspondent was told he would have to find his way to Iseyin in Oyo State where he would easily get a vehicle to Kaduna.
Kamal Isiyaka, who returned from Lagos on Monday, told our correspondent that vehicles travelling from Lagos to Kaduna through the Birnin Gwari route face less challenges on the road because there are less police officers to tip.
“Commercial vehicles with passengers come in and out of Kaduna because there are usually no Police officers manning the Birnin Gwari route. You could find soldiers in a particular spot, but it is the shortest route to Lagos,” he said.
Isiyaka said those who ply the Kaduna-Abuja-Lokoja route during the lockdown have to tip security agents at various checkpoints in order to continue their journey unhindered.
Security agents sneak commuters in and out of Kaduna
There are reported cases of security agents escorting commuters in and out of Kaduna State for a negotiated price. Our correspondents observed that police men are frequently seen on the passenger’s side of some vehicles, which according to one of the Marshalls of the Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Agency (KASTLEA), was an illegal act done for a fee.
The Marshall confided in Daily Trust that security personnel stationed along Nnamdi Azikwe Express Bypass including some police officers and other security agencies and local vigilante groups, were paid to sneak travellers into the state.
He said an individual security agent could make as much as N10,000 daily as each vehicle is escorted in or out of Kaduna for a negotiated price of N2,000 or N3,000, depending on the vehicle, and the attitude of the drivers. Others are asked to pay N5,000 per trip.
“We are not happy seeing our colleagues involved in such activities but you will find them sitting on the passenger’s seat of the vehicle and once they get to a checkpoint they will ask us to let the car pass,” he said.
“There is a particular female police officer who specialises in this act almost on daily basis. She frequents the Kaduna- Abuja Road through Nnamdi Azikwe Express Way to Kawo Bridge. Each time we stop the vehicle she will come and plead with us to let it go. Apart from her, there are also soldiers, Road Safety personnel and others that are paid money to look the other way as vehicle come in and leave Kaduna.
However, Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige told Daily Trust that the command was not aware of such illegal activities but warned that any officer caught will be dealt with appropriately.
Truck, tanker drivers commuting travellers
When President Muhammadu Buhari announced a lockdown for Lagos, Ogun and the FCT more than two weeks ago, he had exempted commercial establishments such as food processing, distribution and retail companies as well as petroleum distribution and retail entities.
Because of the pronouncement, tanker drivers conveying petrol and gas as well as trucks drivers conveying food supplies are allowed to travel interstate without difficulties. Our correspondent however gathered that these drivers now convey passengers from one state to another for a negotiated price.
Tajudeen Ibrahim, a petroleum tanker driver who plies Lagos–Kaduna- Kebbi Road confirmed to Daily Trust that tanker drivers and those who transport food produce are usually allowed access even when they carry extra passengers.
“We carry passengers while on the road from Lagos to Kaduna and from Kaduna to Lagos. Because some of us ply the Birnin Gwari route, passengers often wait for us at the Mando Roundabout close to the airport, where the union workers will wave at us to stop and we negotiate a price,” he said.
Ibrahim however explained that because of the lockdown in Lagos, the passengers are dropped off at Ogere, close to Lagos toll gate or Berger adding that; “the passengers will then hail a motorcycle that will take them into the city.” He said to return to Kaduna, passengers wait for vehicles at Ogere or a spot he called Ramania to board trailers returning to the north.
Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan when contacted only thanked Daily Trust for the information and did not go further. However, ASP Mohammed Jalige said the Police was not aware that some parks were operational in the state but said the command will immediately look into the matter.
