470 MOTORCYCLES ARE CRUSHED BY FCTA IN ABUJA FOR OPERATING ILLEGALLY

Babatunji Wusu –

More than 470 motorcycles detained for running erratically in the nation’s capital, Abuja, were crushed on Thursday by the Joint Task Force of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

During an operation that started at the Carwash Bus Stop in Lugbe and traveled through Gosa, Bill Clinton Drive, Trademore Estate, Lugbe Junction, and Kubwa, the taskforce seized the motorcycles.

In a previous operation for the same offense on August 31, about 400 motorcycles were seized and smashed.

During the exercise, Mr. Obokutom Nyah, Secretary of FCTA’s Transportation Secretariat, told journalists that the decision to crush the motorcycles was in accordance with the law.

Nyah issued a warning to commercial motorcyclists to confine their operations to predetermined zones, avoid the city center, and stop posing a hazard to public safety.

He clarified that different types of vehicles can only be driven in certain locations and added that commercial motorcycles can only be used in the suburbs.

In order to avoid facing the full force of the law, he warned, “we encourage the operators to respect their boundaries.”

Additionally, the excessive number of motorbikes operating in the city, according to Mr. Abdulateef Bello, Director of the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services.

Bello stated that the group would expand its operations to include the nighttime, noting that between 200 and 400 motorcycles are currently seized each week.

In an effort to increase the amount of compliance, he added that the taskforce was thinking about arresting locals who ride motorcycles.

For their own safety, he recommended locals to learn to walk short distances instead of using motorcycles whenever possible.

The director also cautioned people against investing in commercial motorbike businesses, stating that the FCTA will use its resources to try to stop them.