Arrest of Okada Riders in Ebonyi; NSCDC Denies Involvement
Arrest of Okada Riders in Ebonyi; NSCDC Denies Involvement
….Calls for Media Responsibility
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ebonyi state Command has denied the alleged involvement of its personnel in the arrest of Okada riders in the state.
This is contained in a press release issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Emma Uneke on Sunday in Abakaliki, the State’s Capital.
The document maintained that on request, some officers and men of the command were attached to the state’s taskforce empowered to stop manual sales of tickets to Okada riders and enforce E-ticketing.
While explaining the intervention efforts of the Command’s Boss, Commandant Francis Chika Nnadi, the release advised media outfits to be responsible in their reportage by balancing every story to avoid creating civil unrest.
The release read thus:
“Re-
Okada Riders Protest against multiple taxation, illegal arrest by NSCDC in Ebonyi
The attention of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Ebonyi state command have been drawn to a publication on the above subject hence the following response
“The NSCDC Ebonyi state command was not involved in any illegal arrest of Okada riders in the state.
“The command only released some of its operatives to the task force of the Ebonyi state board of Internal revenue to provide security to them in the stoppage of illegal sale of tickets to Okada riders and encourage them go for e- ticketing as directed by the state government.
“The command only assisted the task force to enforce their drive and did not arrest any Okada rider.
“It took the intervention of the state Commandant CC. Francis Chika Nnadi to mediate between the exco of the internal revenue board task force and that of the Okada riders in settling the misunderstanding that ensued between the Okada riders and the task force in reaching a common understanding of the good intentions of the state government concerning the e- ticketing since it falls within the mandate of the corps in monitoring and supervision of trade unions as enshrined in it’s Act 2003 as amended in 2007.
“The NSCDC as a responsible organization encouraged both parties to toe the path of peace through a round table understanding of the merits of the e-tickets policy of the state government.
“The command is equally encouraging members of the media to always ensure having a balanced reportage of the information they send out in the public domain and avoid sensational reports that bridge the ethics of the respected profession.
“Finally, the NSCDC Ebonyi state command encourages Ebonyians and other residents of the state to remain law abiding and join hands with the command and other sister agencies in providing effective and efficient security services to the government and good people of the State.
