Stephen Dunmoye
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) led a joint operation of security agencies to impound motorcycles in a bid to curb the operations of commercial riders on unauthorised routes within the city.
The Director of the DRTS, Abdulateef Bello disclosed this to Journalists in Abuja where over 200 motorcycles were impounded and crushed.
Bello noted that the exercise was the fifth in the series, adding that the number of commercial motorcyclists has reduced in the FCT through the operation.
“As they are not tired, we will not be tired and we will continue to do this until we achieve zero level of commercial motorcycling in the FCT,” he said.
When asked about the measures required to sustain and achieve the stated goals, Bello said, “We are already enjoying the collaboration of other agencies and now the idea is that from the commands, anywhere the motorcycles are seen, they should be arrested, impounded and handed over to DRTS for subsequent crushing.
“So, we are going to do our spreading so that we don’t have to move together. Anywhere motorcycles are seen plying on the wrong route, they will have to be impounded.”
On his part, the FCT sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oga Samuel said the enforcement executed in the past months had yielded results.
According to him, “there has been a drastic reduction in road traffic crashes as it relates to the use of motorcycles in the FCT.
“The feedback we are getting from the general public shows that there is a lot of appreciation for the consistency of this exercise. Not only that, we can confidently say that statistics available to us say that there is a drastic reduction in road traffic crashes as it relates to the use of motorcycles in the FCT.
An operative of the Federal Fire Service said, “I want to commend the effort of government for being consistent as far as this enforcement is concerned and I want to say that the FRSC will continue to collaborate with the DRTS and other security agencies to ensure that this is continuous.”
Present at the scene of the operation is the Heads of security agencies including the representatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian Army, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Federal Fire Service (FFS), FRSC and the police.
The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mohammed Bello had given a marching order to impound and crush motorcycles, noting that the operation is the outcome of a decision by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) security committee.
