As part of the ongoing cleaning of areas that are banned from operations of commercial motorcyclists known in common parlance as ‘okadamen’, a joint enforcement team of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) raided Abuja city centre and the expressway particularly the Kubwa axis of the nation’s capital.
The team comprising of FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), Police, Military and paramilitary agencies stormed the streets and went after okadamen involved in activities violating traffic rules and causing other vices in the Territory.
Some of areas raided include Garki Area 1&3, Guzape, Drumi 1,2 & 3, Mpape junction, Asokoro as well as Kubwa axis of the nation’s capital city, where motorcycles were confiscated.
Explaining the exercise, DRTS Head of Operation, Deborah Osho, described the raid operation as its normal activity, which is going to be a continuous process.
She said as long as Okadamen continue violating the traffic rules by coming to where their activities are banned, the enforcement team will continue to be picking until such a time that the relevant government authorities are given the go ahead to crush them.
“We were able to clean the city center and along the express way of the menace of okada and their activities, coming into the city centre, causing a lot of traffic and other vices that are violating the traffic rules.
“And we were able to take about one hundred and twenty bikes today, by tomorrow, we will be on the road again, hunting for them, because as long as they’re adamant, we will also not be tired of going after them.
“The confiscated bikes, we always approach the Court for an order of forfeiture, and once the order comes, we will crush them”, she stated.
On his part, Secretary, FCT Command and Control Centre of the Security Services Department, Dr. Peter Olumuji, noted that the rate of crime which is being perpetrated by the use of commercial motorcycles has reduced drastically.
He added that the FCT Commissioner of Police has also reinstated where they are not ment to operate, they are not ment to be there, so as long as they decide to disobey that law, then they should also be ready to face the music at every point in time.
According to him, the Minister of FCT is only passionate about the security of the lives of the residents of FCT, so this is a sustained operation to ensure that the security of FCT improve to better than what it use to be in the past.
“It’s a holistic approach as we have done, and all the Security Agencies within the FCT have been working in good synergy and that’s why we are recording this success.
“It’s a joint operation with all the relevant security Agencies, we have the Nigerian Police, the Civil Defence, Department of State Services, including NDLEA, because we also have issues of related drug arrest as we go out, and we have the Immigration Services because of illegal immigrants, also the Correctional Services, in case we need to put some people behind the vehicle to restrain them.
“And you know that the Minister of FCT is only passionate about the security of the lives of the residents of FCT, so this is a sustained operation to ensure that the security of FCT improve to better than what it use to be in the past”, he stressed.
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