The Commissioner for Transport in Imo state, Emeka Okonkwo, has dispelled rumour that commercial drivers operating in the state were not given enough time to change their tinted glasses.
Okonkwo who was reacting to the clampdown on buses in the state and the strike embarked upon by bus drivers, said that they were given 72 hours within which to change their tinted glasses to transparent ones.
He said when the deadline expired, days of grace were also allowed to enable them effect the necessary change, but they failed to cooperate.
He maintained that the directive became necessary due to incessant criminal activities like kidnappings and killing of innocent citizens associated with buses with tinted glasses.
“Having observed the high rate of kidnapping, missing persons, ritual killings and other criminal activities, His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma decided to come up with the directive and we made sure that enough time was given.”
The commissioner was hopeful that with the clampdown on the buses with tinted glasses, insecurity in the state would be drastically reduced, just as the face-off between transport task force and truck drivers had been put in check.
He also disclosed that the era of collecting money directly from drivers has stopped as a system whereby payments were made directly to the approved account had been devised.
This, he said, put the face-off on check unlike what was obtainable before he was appointed as commissioner.