FCTA crushes 476 motorbikes, vows enforcement of okada ban

The Federal Capital Territory Administration ( FCTA), Wednesday, vowed not relent on its aggressive Okada ban enforcement, regardless of attacks against the taskforce team.

This was disclosed at Area 1, Garki by the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, during the crushing of about 476 bikes that were impounded from violators of the ban, within the Federal Capital City.

Attah expressed shock that after the repeated warnings through different means, and crushing over 1,000 impounded bikes some months ago, people were still taking unnecessary economic risk by bringing in droves commercial motorcycles to restricted areas.

While he confirmed that the taskforce was attacked by stone peddling mob during the enforcement exercise, he stated that the legal enforcement of laws cannot be dissuaded by acts of lawlessness and attacks of any kind.

“It is worrisome that despite all that we do on a daily basis, the activities of these commercial motorcyclists have been linked with criminal activities.

“They ought not to operate within the Capital City, but here we have operating in total contraventions of what the law says in a modern city like Abuja.

“I thought that having crushed so many thousands of the illegal bikes, this menace would have reduced. If not that we crush them publicly, people would have been thinking that we sell them to ourselves.

“We are crushing them in full public glare and scrap is sold and the money paid into government’s account,” Attah said.

Also speaking, the Director, Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), Dr. Abdulateef Bello, said the impounding and crushing of the bikes would be sustained, so long as the operators keep violating the restrictions.