The Director of Police Media and Public Relations ASP Ibrahim Samura, on Friday disclosed that (Poda-Poda) drivers running between Waterloo and Guard Street were making life a nightmare for their passengers. He said it had become habitual of these drivers to stop passengers half way into their destinations. The Police Spokesman said “highlighting passengers at wrong stopping points is dangerous. Criminals might make those points target areas. This might expose people to attacks” he noted.
ASP Samura said there had been a huge public out cry about the problem. He said the police had devised tougher punishments and had intensified its raids on drivers who were addicted to that “menace.” He said even when there were writings on drivers’ vehicles to indicate passengers desired destinations, most drivers were flouting the rule with impunity.
The Police Media Director stated that: “clamping down on theses lawless drivers is now one of our priority areas. This is one of the reasons why there has been massive reshuffling in the traffic division.”
Samura claimed that many people in the far ends of Freetown had lost their jobs due to that problem. He said with the reopening of schools, pupils and students would have to suffer severely in the hands of what he described as “unscrupulous drivers.” He opined that “as a result of this wicked attitude of (Poda-Poda) drivers, many pupils arrive in schools late and at the end of the day, cannot pass their exams.”
Responding to allegations of some traffic police officers taking bribes and conniving with (Poda-Poda) drivers to stop half way into their journeys, ASP Samura agreed “that we have bad eggs in the police. We have also received these types of complaints occasionally, but there have not been evidences to prosecute officers that are deeply involved in this” he said.
The Police Spokesman insisted that they would not aid or abet any officer whose hands were buried in such a “mess.”
By Abdul Samba Brima
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