By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – Commercial motorcycles are considered a blessing and a curse. A blessing for their convenience and ability to manoeuvre through traffic gridlocks and a curse for their careless riding that most times lead to tragic accidents, as well as their widespread involvement in committing crimes.
– Unlicensed operators –
Due to the importance of commercial motorcyclists in the day to day commute of many Nigerians, outright bans across states have been difficult. Instead, many governments and smaller community leaders have resorted to licensing operators of motorcycles within their domains.
But while they are making concerted efforts to check the excesses of the criminal elements among this group, the agencies responsible for their registration, the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), popularly referred to as VIO and that saddled with safety on the roads, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), sèm to be more focused on cars and other articulated vehicles.
A check by 365Daily revealed that many of the commercial motorcycles do not carry license plates, thereby making it difficult to track them in cases of crime, and enhance enforcement of traffic regulations.
When 365Daily went round the FCT, from the Gudu District of Apo Area, all the way to the Nyanya – Mararaba axis, down to the Kubwa/ Bwari corridors, commercial motorcyclists were observed to be non – challantly operating without the expected and required registered plate numbers.
– For the love of ‘machines’ –
Recently, amidst heightened insecurity across the country, motorcyclists have come under increasing scrutiny for their roles in aiding and abetting criminalities. So much is their love for the ‘machine’, that bandits now request for them as part of ransom for their kidnap victims.
Also, many people are in love with the motorcycle as it puts food on their tables. Many Nigerians who fall under the poor, less educated and low income category have come to embrace ‘okada’, as it is popularly called, as a means of livelihood and survival.
For many commuters, this mode of transportation is a fast way to get to their destinations, despite the risks to their lives.
The result is chaos along the roads of the suburbs where many of them operate due to bans by the various state governments, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), restricting their movement.
– Residents: We are at their mercy –
This love notwithstanding, interactions with residents were mostly indicting of okada riders in theft and robbery. Many of them said unscrupulous characters among them use the motorbikes to quickly flee crime scenes.
Many of the residents in the FCT who spoke with our correspondent said they live in constant fear of falling victims to the nefarious schemes of criminal motorcyclists, mostly because they are untraceable.
Tijani Gaya, a resident of Dutse Community in Bwari Area Council, is one of them. He said he was worried that with the rising crime recorded daily in the FCT, the relevant council authorities lack the political will to ensure the protection of lives and property of people in the area.
Gaya stated: “With the security challenges in the country now, you cannot imagine the number of motorcyclists that have moved into Kuje, despite the ban imposed by the area council.
“Almost all the commercial and privately-owned motorcycles operate without registered number plates. The riders are reckless and passengers are at their mercy.
“They do not belong to any association or union, and the worst is that we do not even know where many of them come from or reside.
“It will require the political will of the leadership of the area council to ensure the protection of lives and property in the FCT as a whole.”
Chinwe Obi, a civil Servant who lives in the Kubwa suburb of the FCT, while speaking with 365Daily, recounted how she was stabbed by the rider of a motorcycle she boarded.
She said: “I have had a terrible experience at the hands of these okada riders. One day, on my way home back from work in the night, I boarded a motorcycle. On reaching the street in front of my house, as I was alighting the motorcycle when the rider grabbed and dragged my iPhone from my hand, but I held it, and because of that, he swiftly brought out a screw driver and stabbed me in the chest by my breast.
“It was a very terrible experience. Imagine, and it was late in the night. When I screamed and let go of the phone, he sped off into the night. I was later rushed to the hospital.
“So the operators not having identification in form of plate numbers is quite terrible.”
For Mahmoud Haruna, who is a tailor in Nyanya area of Abuja, the ugly incidences involving commercial motorcycle operators made it necessary for the government to introduce tricycle operators,popularly known as Keke Napep.
For him, however, how far this has gone in checking crime among motorcycle riders remain in doubt as they have given themselves a bad name and people no longer trust them.
He said: “I remember I have had several unpleasant experiences with them. Just December last year, I was having an argument about price with a motorcyclist and he decided to fight me. He even brought out weapons, and was even urged on by his fellow colleagues. I was only rescued by the security operatives close to my house.
“So it’s not funny. These commercial motorcyclists are acting lawlessly, and from the look of things, they don’t have a strong union that can rein in its membership and counsel them on good road conduct and the enforcement agencies are not helping matters.”
– Operators: We don’t need number plates –
A commercial motorcyclist identified as Auwal Umar told our correspondent that licensing them shouldn’t be a problem to anyone. For him, what constitutes a problem is the alleged constant harassment by law enforcement agents.
“What would we do with the plate numbers,” he queried, adding, “The number plates do not do anything for us. With or without it, people won’t stop what they are doing. There are people with number plates that are misbehaving.
“They should just leave us to look for our daily bread. It has no value as far as I am concerned,” Umar stated.
– DRTS, FRSC: We are doing our best –
When contacted on the issue, to 365Daily, Head of Public Relations and Enlightenment, Roads Traffic Services (DRTS) aka VIO, Mr. Kalu Emetu, said the agency is not relenting in arresting and prosecuting erring operators.
He added that they were also sensitising and educating them on compliance and managing “the situation” as best as it could, despite the limited manpower.
“It is not as if we are unaware of the fact that many of them are not using registered motorcycles for operation. The fact is that the way things are going today in the society, it is causing a lot of deviation from what we use to know.
“Unlike what we used to have back in the days where even bicycles were registered, what we see today, if you check, our men are always after them.
“On the use of motorcycles in the city centre, the ban is still in force, you will still see them everywhere. Our men are not resting. Just yesterday, we impounded 38 of them just within 2 hours. People find it difficult to obey the law these days. As enforcers of the law, we are doing all we can do to ensure there is sanity on the roads.
“Even when we do the needful, our key stakeholders think that we are heavy handed. But you react based on the situation you find yourself. We are looking into and improving how to tackle the use of motorcycles without registration number. It is our responsibility.
“Very soon we are going to roll out a new type of number plate that will be digitised, so that the information of the owner, the rider and location will be contained on it. That is what we are working on at the moment, that is to show that we are not relaxing. They are all supposed to be registered they way vehicles are registered.
“We have been and are still collaborating with other security agencies to clampdown on erring operators, as well as sensitising their unions and individual operators. When we arrest an earring operator, their motorcycle will be seized by the government,” he added.
Also speaking to 365Daily, the FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Ochi Oga Samuel, stated that the situation was “challenging”, but the command was putting pressure on motorcycle operators and collaborating with other security agencies and motorcycles union to get them to “do the right thing.”
Samuel said, “We are all aware that motorcycles are restricted to the satellite towns. So that policy is still standing. It is also mandatory that users of all motorcycles have their number plates, so those acting contrary are violating that regulation. So it is an infraction, and when they are apprehended, they are going to pay fine and, of course, we will impound their motorcycles until the right thing is done.
“There are quite a lot of implications when you ride motorcycles without plate numbers because we have realised that most of these motorcyclists go into a lot of crimes and it is difficult to trace these motorcycles without number plates. So it is against the laws of the land.
“We put the laws in place, but we are also aware that a lot of these motorcyclists are illiterates. That is why it is looking as if we don’t have the capacity to enforce that regulation. That is why we are advocating education, enlightenment.
“Many of them have no knowledge of the security implication of not having number plates. But there is collaboration going on among agencies and authorities to bring that level of sanity.
“We have some level of data as far as motorcycles in FCT are concerned. There is data that have been collected at the level of the unions, where most motorcycles are registered. We have identified in the FCT, 3 main unions.
“And at the other level, which is more comprehensive, is those that are given plate numbers by way of registration. So far, from both sources, we have a fair degree of data. That is why we are saying every motorcycle must be registered, and by that we will have a perfect knowledge of where they are coming from and the number we have in FCT.
“But we are still collaborating with other sister law enforcement agencies and even the military to track down and even prosecute motorcyclists involved in criminal activities.”
– Union: Motorcycles license plates unavailable –
On his part, the President of the Commercial Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria, Comrade Obi Nwagugu, said the fault lies with the VIO for failing to make number plates available for their members to purchase.
Alleging heavy-handedness by the authorities, he said: “That is a pressing issue, no doubt. We have tried to relate with the VIO, the road traffic office in FCT, you know initially they were not bringing out FCT plate numbers for motorcycles because they were insisting that it is banned and there is no where the government have told us that it is banned throughout FCT. It is only in the municipal area council.
“We applied for it, they didn’t do it. They say that it is banned. It is very difficult for most of our members to acquire. It is even good for our own personal use. That is why most of our members go to Nassarawa and Niger States to do it, even at very exorbitant rates.
“So that problem has been there. We have appealed to them so that they can produce it in excess so our members can buy it at a cheaper rate. They didn’t do it and we are still appealing to them, so that our members can buy.”