By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
The Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kogi State Command has arrested four suspects for illegal sale of stickers to Tricycle (Kekenapep) operators in the state.
The Public Relations Officer for the command, DSC, Aliyu Abdullahi, who paraded the suspects at the Command’s headquarters in Lokoja on Friday gave the name of the suspects as Umar Yakubu, Mohammed Danjums,Agulu Yahaya and Ibrahim Yabagi.
The PRO added that the Yakubu and his colleagues in the alleged crime were caught selling tickets to some Kekenapep operators within Lokoja on February 5,2025.
According to him, the action of the suspects is contrary to the recent law by kogi state government baning illegal collection of revenue through the 21 local government areas of the state.
He assured that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the command completes investigation into their case.
However, the suspects,in their separate interview with journalists, denied the allegation.
Some senior officers of the Kogi State Internall Revenue Service, KGIRS, witnessed the parade of the suspects.
Meanwhile, Kekenapep operators have commended the state government for banning illegal collection of revenue by some unionist members.
Mall. Mohammed Tijani and Aliyu Audu, two Kekenapep operators who spoke with our correspondent on the issue, in Lokoja on Thursday described the ban as a big relief to them and their colleagues.
He said that while the illegal revenue collection lasted, he saw “hell” in the hands of illegal revenue collectors who issued all manners of tickets to extort him and his colleagues, just to milk them to their own financial advantage.
Tijani said: “Before the ban on illegal revenue collection, union members used to sell to us upto five different tickets in a day, which amounted to between N800 and N1,000 per day,depending on the illegal revenue collector that is involved.
“But now that the state government says we should just pay N500 only per day,this has brought a lot of financial relief to us.”
However, our correspondent observes that in spite of the ban on illegal revenue collection and the positive impact on the income of Kekenapep and other commercial transport operators, coupled with the down word trend in the price of petrol, falling from N1,200 per litre to N970 for the same quantity in many of the filling stations in Lokoja,transport fare remains on the high side.
