Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
Commercial motorcyclists generally known as Okada have attacked the FCT Minister’s Taskforce Team with guns and other dangerous weapons.
The attack at Lugbe Car Wash in the corridor of the International Airport Road came after the taskforce team impounded over 100 Okada for various traffic offences, ranging from driving against traffic and driving on the express road.
But while the raid was ongoing some of the Okada riders mobilized and started shooting at the joint taskforce team and attacked them with different dangerous weapons.
Items recovered from the attackers include one locally made gun, pistol, cutlasses and a dagger.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of FCT, Ikharo Attah said that they carried out the Airport Road raid because the Okada riders were contravening traffic rules and driving against traffic on the expressway.
“We came for removal of Okada on Airport corridor. The Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello has given a matching order that Okada should be removed because they are not allowed to ply the main road but most times we find them indiscriminately driving against traffic at the express way, contravening traffic rules. We find them behaving unruly, hurting people here so we came to remove them on the Airport Road,” Attah said.
He condemned the attack on FCT and security officials, saying: “It is a regular thing for us, we are used to being attacked. We have been attacked severally”.
He stressed the commitment of the FCT Minister to ensure sanity in Abuja, saying Okada operators erroneously think they could have ungoverned spaces in Lugbe.
The Head of Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Adamu Shehu appealed to the motorcycle riders to desist from violation of traffic rules warning anytime they are caught their Okada will be impounded and crushed.
“My message is that they should stop driving against the traffic because when we see them we are going to seize their Okada. All the Okada impounded today, we will go through the court process and we are going to crush them,” Shehu said.
