Worried by the menace of motorcycle riders in Abuja City centre, the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), popularly known as Vehicle Inspction Officers (VIO), on Wednesday, crushed 1,700 motorcycles impounded from illegal riders.
Speaking shortly before embarking on the crushing exercise, FCTA Secretary of Transportation, Alhaji Usman Musa Yahaya, said they were forced to undertake the exercise to show Nigerians and illegal practitioners of the motorcycle business that they were committed to getting rid of those that had refused to do the right thing.
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He said the 1,700 motorcycles were worth millions of naira, but that the job had to be done to send a strong signal to people that the FCTA would not condone any act aimed at destabilising the peace and smooth operations of the territory.
He explained that, “It takes a lot of courage to actually get this number of machines, 1,700, from across the city. Many people will say that a lot of resources are being wasted here this morning because of crushing these machines because millions of naira are involved in the process.
“But despite everything that we have been doing, it shows you that these are people who are very stubborn, half-educated; people who are bent on bending the law; not obeying the law of the city.
“Everything we are doing is geared towards keeping the city being clean and safe. If you remember, during the Nasir el-Rufa’i period, there was a ban on the use of machines in the city centre, and for long periods we tried all we could to make sure that the law is obeyed. But some people have refused to obey the law.”
He noted that looking at the large stash of the crushed motorcycles many residents would think all the motorcycles in Abuja had been mopped up, “But that is not the case. If you go to Area 1 you will still see them there; they have refused to obey simple rules and regulations.”
In her remarks, the representatives of the FCT Commissioner of Police, DCP Hauwa Ibrahim, said impounding the motorcycles became necessary because some of the operators were using them to commit crimes.
Attah Ikharo, SSA to the Minister on Monitoring and Enforcement, said Nigerians should give kudos to the DRTS for the job they were doing to keep the city clean because some of the people with the motorcycles were high on drugs and possessing weapons like knives.
He added that the FCTA was committed to making sure the city was clean of miscreants.
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