By Stanley Onyekwere
Head of Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) Taskteam, Adamu Shehu Maiwada, ongoing crushing of forfeited commercial motorcycles should deter those bent on always violating traffic rules and regulations of the FCT Administration.
Recall that DRTS, otherwise known as Vehicles Inspection Office (VIO) had recently commenced crushing of confiscated motorcycles , hitherto used for commercial purposes known as Okada operations within restricted areas of Abuja, the nation’s capital city.
Maiwada, in an interview with PeoplesDaily maintained that the crushing of forfeited okadas is going to be a continuous exercise until okada riders obey the prevailing relevant traffic order of the FCTA.
According to him, “Almost about one hundred and sixty motorcycles of the total 1,500 forfeited are crushed daily, and we have another six hundred confiscated motorcycles on ground waiting for court order for forfeiture.
“I want to call the attention of other people they might not know about the ongoing crushing of confiscated and forfeited motorcycles, it has commenced.
“And it’s going to be a continuous exercise, so those that are not aware of the okada ban should desist from violating the order, as they should only operate where they are allowed to do so within the Territory.”
Also, responding to the concerns of some people that the okada operators are loosing their source of income, the DRTS Taskteam Head said; “ no, they make it so, because they have been given the guidelines, clearly letting them know where to operate, and where not to operate.
“So, it’s only those who disobey that their motorcycles are being confiscated and crushed. So, nobody should blame us for collecting their motorcycles, but the defaulters should be blamed for violating the law.
“ We are not going to relent on our efforts to get rid of commercial motorcycles from undesignated areas within the nation’s capital city, as we will make sure to continue with our enforcement exercise until we achieve our goal”, he stressed.
