The Oyo State Road Transport Management Authority (OYRTMA) says it has impounded 36 articulated vehicles belonging to haulage companies for allegedly violating the state restriction order.
Dr Akin Fagbemi, Executive Chairman, OYRTMA, in a statement on Thursday in Ibadan, said the vehicles were impounded during the Authority’s routine operations and surveillance.
Fagbemi said that operators of the trucks, while coming into or passing through Oyo State to other parts of the country, willfully boycotted the order on restriction of movement.
He alleged that the trucks were used to convey large number of people as against the approved carriage of food items, pharmaceutical products and other essential goods/services.
“Some trucks numbering about 36 were impounded in Oyo State between April 1 and April 8, for violating the restriction of movement order of the state government.
“Having previously established that the Coronavirus disease is majorly transmitted through human movement from one place to another, these articulated vehicles were seen conveying hundreds of persons as against the approved food items, pharmaceuticals and other essentials without any official permit or convincing reasons.
“This act negates efforts by the Oyo State Government to mitigate the spread of the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) through inter and intra state vehicular movement and influx of foreign persons into the state,” he stated.
Fagbemi warned drivers of articulated trucks who engage in such act to desist, saying that erring drivers would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
