Hundreds of passengers from Kano and neighbouring states travelling to the Southern part of the country through New Road Luxury Terminal, Sabon Gari, Kano, were on Thursday stranded as no luxury bus was allowed to move out of the state.
The development was the height of a lingering feud between the luxury bus owners and the authorities of Fagge Local Government Area over an increment in revenue rate.
Several gunshots from New Road scared residents of Sabon Gari as police shot in the air to restore peace and order in the area.
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It was gathered that touts of the New Road Luxury Terminal and street urchins hired by a revenue collector agent known as Group MD Muhammadu Sanusi Umar, operating at the instance of the chairman of Fagge Local Government Area, Hon. Habibu Sale Mai Lemo, almost engaged in a bloody confrontation before the intervention of the police.
It was gathered that the council and the Association of Luxury Bus Owners in Kano have been having a running battle over an increment in revenue rates.
Based on this issue, for the past one month, the New Road Luxury Terminal has been sealed by the revenue firm contracted by the council to collect revenue from the bus operators.
It was learnt that apart from collecting N300,000 monthly remittance from the association for the Fagge council, Umar also demanded for N12,000 daily fee on each fully loaded bus leaving the park for any destination.
Following the imposition of the fresh charges, the luxury bus owners vacated the terminal and started loading in their respective offices along New Road, while some of them operated along the road close to the park.
Angered by the development, the revenue collector on Thursday, May 12, 2016 stormed New Road, demanding that the luxury bus owners remit revenue for each loaded bus or risk attack while moving out of Kano.
An eyewitness said that the situation would have degenerated to a breakdown of law and order, but for the timely intervention of the police.
The patron of the Luxury Bus Owners in Kano, Chief Uche Megwalu called for calm, adding that the only solution to the crisis remains negotiation.
He told the Authority Newspaper: “I have been briefed on what is happening and my piece of advice is for the luxury bus owners to return to their offices and stop loading on the roadside until the issue is resolved.
“I have spoken to the local government chairman severally on the issue and he has demanded to meet with the National President of the Luxury Bus Owners. He complained that he is no longer comfortable with those he has been meeting with in Kano.
“I believe in dialogue and dialogue alone can solve the problem. I will not ask anybody to start fighting because that will not solve the problem. Very soon, I will be back to Kano and explore a peaceful option to the problem,” he said.
via Authority
