Anambra Keke Drivers Forum AKDF on Friday demanded that one of its members whose commercial tricycle popularly known as Keke was detained for one week illegally, must be compensated adequately by the state government.
TNC gathered that a Keke operator in Awka, Anambra State Capital, one Mr Everest Mboto, was arrested and detained for no just cause, after he had paid his monthly tax and other obligations to the state government.
Speaking to our correspondent, Mboto said his Keke was impounded when men of Anambra State Road Traffic Agency ARTMA accosted him and demanded for bribe and when he declined, they arrested him.
According to him, many of the Keke drivers who paid N500 Â were allowed to continue to work, even loading on the main roads.
He said “My Keke was detained for one week without just cause and Anambra Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, would thereafter, demand for the payment of the one week in which my source of livelihood was denied me.
“The State Government is making the lives of the poorest of the poor in the state miserable.
“The government is compounding the economic situation of the poorest of the poor in the state. If you pay your taxes, it will not be reflected in the government’s app. Will I be punished for the government’s ineptitude?”
Speaking on the matter, the Coordinator of Anambra keke Drivers Forum (AKDF), Comrade Osita Obi  said the management of ARTMA will be held responsible for the irresponsible act.
According to him, ARTMA must pay for the one week Everest Mboto did not go to work as a result of the impoundment of his keke.
He stated that  AKDF will no longer allow its members to be treated this way, saying that somebody must take responsibility for the obnoxious behaviour.
Obi however, urged the Keke drivers to discharge their civic duties by paying their taxes when due and also to obey traffic rules in the state.
Also speaking on the illegal detention of Keke by the state agents, one of the Keke operators Ifeanyi Okereke, noted that not punishing erring government officials is responsible for the impunity of the tax enforcement team and other government agents in the state.
According to him, government revenue agents must be held responsible for their actions, regretting that in Anambra state Keke riders are treated as third-class citizens.
“Everybody wants to make money from the Keke drivers.  The government is stretching operators on tax payments.
“It forces us to pay even when our Keke are at the repair workshops. We pay when we are admitted to the hospital without working. We are already on the ground and the government is just matching on us.
“You can’t hold someone’s means of livelihood unjustly for one week and you don’t pay for it. The government must be responsible because the rider met all their obligations to the government.
“In most cases, this is one of the reasons why the law enforcement agencies go scot free for all these abuses of law,” he said.
