Delta State Governor’s aide, Billy Egbe, has strongly condemned the extortion and violence perpetrated by touts, popularly known as agberos, in Lagos State. This comes after a dispatch rider was brutally assaulted and reportedly killed by an alleged transport union leader in Lagos Island.
Egbe described the situation as a “national embarrassment” and called for urgent action to address the menace.
“The extortion by agberos in Lagos is too much. It is a national embarrassment I complained about it in a post some time ago and some people thought I didn’t know what I was saying. But we see these things every day on the streets of Lagos. He said in a Facebook post.
Condemning the assault and the killing of the dispatch rider by the Lagos touts he went on
“This killing is mindless and heartbreaking, but it is not just about this one incident; it is the same thing everywhere in Lagos. The harassment is too much. With due respect to the Yoruba nation, this tax-collector mentality has to stop”.
Agberos station themselves at bus stops across Lagos, extorting commercial drivers and commuters under different guises Drivers are forced to pay exorbitant charges, with some routes having multiple bus stops that serve as illegal tax collection avenues. Egbe urged the Lagos State Government to take immediate action to prevent further loss of lives and restore sanity to the transport system.
