By Ifeizu Joe
Operatives of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra State, otherwise known as OCHA Brigade were on Wednesday evening given the beating of their lives over incessant arrest of pedestrians crossing the highway.
The agency had since Monday deployed their operatives to UNIZIK Temporary Site at Awka, arresting pedestrians crossing the expressway.
The operatives on Wednesday evening chased after a man who ran crossed the expressway without using the pedestrian bridge, but the man who tried to escape fell into the gutter, hurting himself.
Eyewitnesses said despite injuring himself, the operatives dragged the man with them, an action which irked motor park operators in the area who immediately mobilized and freed the man, while descending on the operatives.
The incident generated huge tension in the area, snowballing into a big fight between the park operators and the operatives.
A source said: “At the end, the park operators overpowered the OCHA Brigade men, beating them up with objects and chasing them away from continuing to enforce the use of the bridge.
“The operatives then mobilized support from vigilante operatives, arresting over six Park operators.”
DAILY POST gathered that the enforcement of the use of the pedestrian bridge by the operatives has caused several embarrassment on many pedestrians, as many residents complain that there was no adequate awareness.
Another source said the agency was only using the enforcement as a means of driving revenue for government, while further impoverishing the people.
Meanwhile, in a recent press conference in his office, the Managing Director of OCHA Brigade, Mr Celestine Anere told journalists that the agency plans to commence full enforcement of the state’s environmental laws.
He said roadside traders would be arrested and charged, just as shanties on major streets would be demolished. Those involved in open defecation and urination would also be arrested.
