Insecurity: Niger transport ministry warns illegal motorparks, picking passengers on roadsides

As a result of the dismantling of illegal motor park in Minna, the Niger State capital, any passengers that is found boarding a vehicle along the road would be arrested along with the driver of the vehicle, the permanent secretary in the state ministry of Transport Dr Ibrahim Garba Musa, has warned.

He explained that the State government under Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has ordered the dismantling of illegal motor park in Minna as a result of the activities of some criminal elements and the increasing proportion of armed banditry in the state stressing that the measure put in place aimed at safeguarding the lives of the citizens.

Dr Ibrahim who was fielding questions from Journalists in his office during the week stated that the position of the government was not to subject the citizens to untold hardship but in the over all interest of the people.

According to the Permanent Secretary, government has the duty to ensure the security of lives of the people and he will not under any guise compromise, adding that the proactive measure exhibited by the governor was not in any way to create unhealthy situation to the people as was being insinuated in some quarters.

He said the taskforce on the dismantling of illegal motor parks and the ban of commercial motorcycles (Okada), in the State capital has come to stay, warning that the taskforce will go after any person found violating and will be made to face full wrath of the law.

He noted with dismay the way and manner some community leaders are launching attacks on the taskforce in some communities in Minna insisting that no amount of attacks on the taskforce would deter them from enforcing the order as already in place in Minna.

“The taskforce had in recent times suffered all sorts of assault from some communities in Minna in their efforts to enforce the ban on commercial motorcycles operators.

“No amount of assault on the taskforce would stop them to enforce the ban on commercial motorcycles in Minna. We would continue to go after them until the long arm of the law is visited on them”, he stated.

The Permanent Secretary disclosed that the ban on the commercial motorcycles will equally be extended to the other local government proned to security challenges in the State, adding that the action was aimed at curtailing the activities of armed banditry that hitherto bedeviling some parts of the State in the last three years.

He maintained that no amount of blackmail from the public will stop the taskforce from carrying out the enforcement of the ban on commercial motorcycles operators in the State, adding that the operation of the taskforce will soon be extended to Bida, Suleja, Kontagora and other local government that is under siege of the activities of armed bandits.

He stated that Minna, as the state capital has to take the lead of the ban ” because we don’t want to be by surprise by criminal element before we take the proactive measure we took.

“Very soon our operational activities would be noticed in some urban and semi urban local government in the state to safeguard the lives of our people which is the responsibility of the government” he asserted.

He appealed to the members of the public in the State to guard against assaulting the taskforce members in the discharge of their duty.