Worried by the increased level of touting in the State, Abia State Government weekend banned all forms of touting, saying the embarrassing activities of touts has been projecting the state in a very bad light and warned that it would do everything in its power to ensure that the ban stands.
Of late, many touting groups, some in uniform, have surfaced in the major cities of the State, particularly, Umuahia and Aba, harassing people, including motorists transiting through the cities in the name of revenue collection.
In Gestapo move, the young men, hire commercial buses and acting like criminals, jump into moving vehicles, especially lorries and struggle with the drivers for the steering which had on many occasions caused accidents.
The State House of Assembly has since passed a law banning them but this law has never been respected by these touts who claim that they pay some money to government through the Ministry of Commerce which mandated them to drive for revenue and collect part of it as their commission.
Besides, so many of the touts are currently going to offices and shops on the streets of Umuahia and Aba to serve demand notices for one form of levy or the other.
Perhaps woken up from its slumber, the Government has decided to try and enforce the ban enacted the House of Assembly as the State Commissioner for information, Comrade Bonnie Iwuoha announced the ban and warned that security agencies have been directed to arrest anyone found touting in the state. Iwuoha who said it was the decision of State Executive Council, noted that the state government frowns at the high level of touting in all parts of the state. According to him, since the present administration has zero tolerance to such illegality it decided to ban it in all forms. (Vanguard)
