I felt that such a step would, at least, create employment. Secondly, it could enhance the security of motor vehicles, as operatives would oversee vehicles to prevent robbers from stealing or pilfering them.
My positive attitude began to give way
to suspicion when I began to hear motorists complain about extortions.
Then, I became a victim. I bought a N1,000 parking ‘recharge’ card.
Before I could exhaust it, the FCT authorities were said to have
cancelled the contract with the company whose card I had purchased. The
new contractors demanded that I purchased their own ‘recharge’ card.
Because I didn’t want to lose more money, I decided to pay-as-I-go.
Then, one hot afternoon, I received the shock of my life. I parked on Ademola Adetokunbo Street in Wuse 2, and entered into GTBank for some banking transactions. I personally called the park-and-pay operator on that street, paid the tax of N50 and ensured he attached the ticket to my car before leaving. In less than 30 minutes, I had completed my transactions in the bank. But it was raining, so I had to wait at the porch of GTBank until the rain subsided. After about 10 minutes, it did and I rushed across the road to jump into my car. But, alas, I saw it had been clamped!
In anger and bewilderment, I looked for the operative whom I had paid N50 to find out why.
“I’m not the person who did it,” the young man replied, looking away in I’m-not-involved attitude. Pointing at some persons loitering about 100 metres away, he said, “I told them not to clamp your car, but they claimed you had over-stayed by 10 minutes. They are members of our task force. Their work is different from mine.”
I walked briskly to the team, asking why they clamped my car.
“Oga, we’re working for government,” one of them replied. With a dull face and yellow eyes, he looked more like a hooligan than a civilised young man who should relate with the public. “Go and look at your car. Your ticket has expired.”
“Did I refuse to pay for the extra time?” I asked pointedly, thinking I could appeal to his sense of reason.
Instead of responding, he brought out an invoice of the Integrated Parking Services, and showed me a long list of offences which attract sanctions. On top of it was ‘Expired Ticket,’ an offence that attracted N5,000 fine. I demanded for the definition of expired ticket because it was unfair to clamp a car because the ticket expired by about 10 minutes.
“I’m here to make money for my company,” the operatives murmured as I raised my voice to disagree with, what he called my expired ticket. “You have your own job. I have a target to make money so that I can be paid. Oga, you better pay your fine.”
At this point, it dawned on me that the Integrated Parking Services was not contented with collecting the N50 tax from motorists per 30 minutes. The company was rather interested in extorting innocent and hapless car owners so that they can make more money. Why should I cough out N5,000 simply because my parking ticket expired by 10 minutes? What sort of penalty was it?
I would like to appeal to human rights activists to test this extortion in the court of law, because everyday many FCT residents suffer my fate. When the roads were constructed, were there provisions for commercial parking? What value did the operators of the parking services add to the roads before they began to tax Nigerians and, not just collecting tax, but even bringing in hooligans to abuse and extort them? The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, should intervene to halt this dehumanisation of motorists. Also, I would appeal to the National Assembly, which makes laws for the FCT, to halt this unwholesome practice.
Then, one hot afternoon, I received the shock of my life. I parked on Ademola Adetokunbo Street in Wuse 2, and entered into GTBank for some banking transactions. I personally called the park-and-pay operator on that street, paid the tax of N50 and ensured he attached the ticket to my car before leaving. In less than 30 minutes, I had completed my transactions in the bank. But it was raining, so I had to wait at the porch of GTBank until the rain subsided. After about 10 minutes, it did and I rushed across the road to jump into my car. But, alas, I saw it had been clamped!
In anger and bewilderment, I looked for the operative whom I had paid N50 to find out why.
“I’m not the person who did it,” the young man replied, looking away in I’m-not-involved attitude. Pointing at some persons loitering about 100 metres away, he said, “I told them not to clamp your car, but they claimed you had over-stayed by 10 minutes. They are members of our task force. Their work is different from mine.”
I walked briskly to the team, asking why they clamped my car.
“Oga, we’re working for government,” one of them replied. With a dull face and yellow eyes, he looked more like a hooligan than a civilised young man who should relate with the public. “Go and look at your car. Your ticket has expired.”
“Did I refuse to pay for the extra time?” I asked pointedly, thinking I could appeal to his sense of reason.
Instead of responding, he brought out an invoice of the Integrated Parking Services, and showed me a long list of offences which attract sanctions. On top of it was ‘Expired Ticket,’ an offence that attracted N5,000 fine. I demanded for the definition of expired ticket because it was unfair to clamp a car because the ticket expired by about 10 minutes.
“I’m here to make money for my company,” the operatives murmured as I raised my voice to disagree with, what he called my expired ticket. “You have your own job. I have a target to make money so that I can be paid. Oga, you better pay your fine.”
At this point, it dawned on me that the Integrated Parking Services was not contented with collecting the N50 tax from motorists per 30 minutes. The company was rather interested in extorting innocent and hapless car owners so that they can make more money. Why should I cough out N5,000 simply because my parking ticket expired by 10 minutes? What sort of penalty was it?
I would like to appeal to human rights activists to test this extortion in the court of law, because everyday many FCT residents suffer my fate. When the roads were constructed, were there provisions for commercial parking? What value did the operators of the parking services add to the roads before they began to tax Nigerians and, not just collecting tax, but even bringing in hooligans to abuse and extort them? The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, should intervene to halt this dehumanisation of motorists. Also, I would appeal to the National Assembly, which makes laws for the FCT, to halt this unwholesome practice.
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