No fewer than 500 commercial motorcycles were on Thursday impounded and crushed by the Joint Task Force of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on the orders of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom WIke.
Wike had last week ordered that the commercial motorcyclists and Keke NAPEP operators be taken off Abuja roads.
The operation was carried out under tight security while owners of the motorcycles watched helplessly as the bulldozer crushed them beyond recognition.
The seizure occurred during a search of strategic locations used by okada operators as operational routes such as Kpaduma II, Asokoro Extension, Galadimawa near Primary School, Gudu market, Kabusa junction, and Apo mechanic were all searched.
Before crushing the seized motorcycles in Area 1, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Garba Haruna, said that the action was proof that the okada ban was still in effect.
According to him, “FCT residents are aware that motorcycles had been banned from entering the Federal Capital City since 2006, crushing of the okada is to show a signal that the city centre is not an area for them to operate.
“There are designated areas for them to operate, that is the suburbs of FCT, so the recalcitrant type will learn from this exercise. We don’t want to see any motorcycle in the city centre.”
Meanwhile, the Director FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), Dr. Abdulateef Bello said the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, had given the directorate a marching order to ensure commercial motorcyclists and Keke NAPEP operators are taken off Abuja roads.
He hinted that despite the fact that the DRTS had been working hard to sustain the ban on okada riders within the Abuja metropolis since it was put in place in 2006, the operators kept returning to the roads.
He said the administration had declared zero tolerance to the illegal activities and would ensure the effort was sustained under the new administration.
