As FCTA enforces restriction of Keke operations…

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says there is no going back on the restriction order placed on the operations of tricycles (Keke NAPEP) and commercial motorcycles (Okada) within the city centre, despite operators, commuters and residents’ complaints. PAUL OKAH and JOAN EZE take a look at the development.

The ban

On November 12, 2019, the FCT Ministerial Task Team on Traffic Congestion began sensitisation on the full enforcement of ban on the operation of tricycles (Keke NAPEP), on major highways and the city centre in the territory.

The chairman of the team, Mr. Ikharo Attah, said the exercise, in collaboration with the Department of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), also known as Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), would not only restore sanity to the nation’s capital, but would further help in the fight against traffic gridlocks, as the Keke operators are only allowed to operate in estates and the satellite towns.

He debunked insinuations that the order was designed to unleash hardship on both the operators of the tricycles and residents, explaining that the ban was in line with the transportation master plan of the city which stipulated that the operations of all means of transportation should be regulated and controlled.

Attah said the ban was meant to enhance safety of the operators, as well as that of the passengers, because they would no longer be allowed to move on highways, adding that the Abuja project will not succeed if laws and regulations that govern operations of businesses are not enforced and obeyed.

“What the minister is asking the operators of Keke Napep is just to restrict themselves to areas designated for them to operate, as they cannot be everywhere in the city, particularly on major highways and the Central Area. The deployment of high capacity buses from the fleets of Abuja Urban Mass Transport will cushion the effects of the ban,’’ he said.

Hawkers’ agonies

Expectedly, the ban has not gone down well with many residents. In a chat with Blueprint  Weekend, a lady ,who identified herself as Chinelo, who hawks bananas for a living between Next Cash and Carry and Nippon Grand hotel (situated between Wuse-Gwarinpa expressway), said that her sales have been low since the implementation of the ban on Keke operations by the FCTA.

She said the Keke operators who usually line up in front of the hotel opposite the supermarket forms the bulk of her customers and that she has been throwing away her spoilt bananas without their patronage since the Keke operators have been forced away by the FCTA task team.

“I don’t even know the right words to use in order to express my anger at this decision of the FCTA to start chasing away Keke drivers. They don’t know many people depend on the Keke drivers for their livelihood.  Because of this decision by the FCTA, I have been throwing away my spoilt bananas because the Keke drivers forms majority of my customers. Without them, I can’t make much sale.

“Apart from me, others are also affected.  For instance, my friend renders private home lessons to a child in Gwarinpa, but cannot be able to afford a cab since the restriction. Keke drivers usually charge N100 to go to gwarinpa from here, but taxi drivers are charging N400 or N500, how can she afford that on daily basis? You need to see people cursing the FCTA and task team for the pains they are going through with regards to transportation. It is not easy for everyone, I must say,” she said.

Also speaking, a food vendor in Jahi who identified herself simply as Aisha said business has been slow since the restriction became effective on Tuesday last week, revealing that Keke drivers always throng her make shift restaurant, but have deserted her since the FCTA task team started chasing after them.

“All I can say is that I no longer make up to the amount I used to make. Many of my customers are the Keke drivers who ply different parts, including Gwarinpa, Utako, Jabi, airport junction and always park around here. I pray the authorities look into the situation because many of us are losing from the situation,” she said.

Commuters groan

Apart from petty traders lamenting about the development, commuters told Blueprint Weekend in separate interviews that they are going through a lot of stress getting to work and their business places, claiming that the ban is too sudden and that government is not doing much to cushion the inconveniences.

A civil servant, James Okeke, who works in Jabi, said he relies on the Keke operators to convey him from his home in Jahi 2 to Jabi Garage, where he can easily find his way to his office, but that he now has to wait for reluctant taxis.

“I usually spend N150 to get to my office in Jabi as the tricycles usually load beside my house. However, the ban has really affected my movement as I now find it difficult getting a taxi that will convey me to Jabi. The Keke drivers are all afraid of VIOs, saying they don’t want their means of livelihood to be impounded. It is really a difficult situation,” he said.

Also speaking, a trader, Anita Bello, said going to the market has become increasingly difficult and expensive since the keke operators that would usually convey her to Life Camp now live in fear of VIOs.

“At the moment, the fear of VIos is the beginning of wisdom for Keke drivers. However, my greatest concern is that the ban came suddenly. We were not informed. We just woke one day to be told that Keke has been banned. Getting to the market is now difficult. I have to take expensive cabs. It is not fair. It is as if the FCTA doesn’t want poor people to survive in Abuja,” she said.

Operators’ lamententations

Also, in a chat with this reporter, a Keke operator in Jahi, Ibrahim Shehu, said it was the only form of business familiar to many of the operators in the community and that their being forced to quit the business would spell doom to the FCTA.

He said with the economic hardship in the country, many youth prefer to be driving Keke than take to armed robbery or other forms of crime, wondering why the FCTA would attempt to lure them into crime by forcing them away from their legitimate means of living.

“Apart from Keke, the task force have been seizing okada and forcing operators to pay up to N30, 000 before the seized okada can be released to the owners. Now they have turned their attention to chasing Keke drivers away from their business. In case you don’t know, many of the task team members die untimely deaths because of the enforcement of the pains being prescribed for Keke drivers. You can’t be intimidating people and inflicting pains on them and expect to die a natural death.

“We are Keke people trying to earn honest living. There are no jobs in this country, so do our best to drive Keke in order to earn an honest living. However, FCTA wants us to embrace a life of crime. They want us to join armed robbery gangs or engage in different forms of crime by chasing us away from plying our different routes. They have to stop chasing us and allow us render our services to our customers,” he said.

Similarly, a tricycle rider at Gwarinpa, who gave his name simply as Bello, said the plan of FCTA is to render the operators jobless, even as he said he now finds it difficult to feed his family.

“Before the ban, I used to convey people to Jahi, Jabi and other parts of the city and then make money to take care of my three wives and ten children, but it is now a difficult time for me. It is barely a week since they started chasing us, but it looks limke a month because of the difficulty. For all it is, I can as well be jobless,” he said.

‘Ban’ll encourage crime, unemployment’

While addressing newsmen during a protest in Abuja on Monday, November 11, the National President of Tricycle Owners Association, Austin Apeh, said the association would seek redress at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, stressing that the jobs of 40,000 operators of tricycles would be under serious threat because of the restriction order.

He said, “The FCTA said they would be banning us from the major routes and restrict us to the estates and villages. The decision is going to throw many people into the job market because Keke business feeds over 40,000 persons in Abuja. We will go to the NICN to challenge the decision and fight for our rights. We will find out if they have the legislation from the National Assembly. A tricycle costs N680,000 and if you multiply it by 40,000, you will know the investments that will be wasted.

“The decision is going to increase crime in the country, especially in the North. They are saying Keke should be restricted. They claim tricycles are used for robbery. It is like giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. When security fails, they look for where to put the blame. Although there are deviants everywhere, there are also good people. If there are bad ones among us, the government should deal with the bad eggs. By the time you stop 40,000 persons from using Keke because of alleged robbery, you will be multiplying the problem.”

Also speaking, the chairman, Welfare Enforcement, Thomas Danjuma, said they would also ask the Court to determine whether the FCTA had the legislation from the National Assembly before the clampdown, while he said government should disband the FCT Ministerial Joint Taskforce on Keke in the interest of peace.

“Government would be creating more troubles with the planned mass arrest and ban on tricycles in Abuja metropolis. We have been in this business for over two decades.  This is a government we supported. I did many things to support the re-election of this government. They’re creating more trouble, more bandits and more criminals,” he said.

Ban ill-timed?

In an article entitled “Perspectives on the Ban of keke in Abuja” and published on November 18, 2019, a writer, Chukwuka Nwabuogor, said the ban should have taken effect next year, adding that there were different classes of people affected by the ban and advised government on what to do.

He said: “It is not news that a lot of families depend on the Keke business. Now, they cannot make as much money as they used to. The FCT Authorities should have designed a system to support and upgrade the Keke operators to taxi drivers via a balance and carry scheme. The sad part of this development is that operators of taxis have increased their prices since the ban, such that distances normally covered by keke for N50 now costs N100 for same distance with taxi.”

FCTA means well – VIO

In a chat with Blueprint Weekend, the public relations officer of the DRTS, Mr. Emetu N. Kalu, said there is no going back on the ban as FCTA has the interest of residents at heart and will go to any length to ensure the safety of lives of property.

He said that measures have been put in place to make sure that the transportation problems of commuters are solved, even as he revealed that buses have been procured and placed in strategic locations for commuters to access at all times.

He said: “The restriction on the operations of Keke and Okada in the city centre is one of the cardinal objectives of the minister in this second tenure. He set up a task team and we engaged in a lot of sensitisation of residents, stakeholders and relevant bodies; for them to be aware of what to expect in the coming days with regards to transportation in the FCT.

“The keke operators have been given specific places to operate, including estates and satellite towns. If you go round the city, you will see our sign post in different points indicating prohibited areas. They are being warned not to bring Keke or Okada into the city centre, but some of them just feel that the prohibited areas are the only places where they can make money.

“If government should keep quiet, the situation will get out of hand. But the intention is not to phase out Keke or okada from the FCT, so let’s get it right. They are only restricted from operating in the city centre. They can operate at estates, satellite towns and area councils like Kubwa, Karu, Nyanya, Karimo, Idu, Gwagwalada, and other areas.”

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