By PHILIP YATAI

Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Wednesday, insisted that all the commercial motorcycles impounded in the city would be crushed.

Mrs Deborah Osho, Head of Operations, Directorate of Road Transport Services, FCTA, stated this during a clampdown operation on commercial motorcycles operators in Abuja.

Osho said that the operation was in line with the law that banned the operations of commercial motorcycles in the city.

She said that the continued operation of commercial motorcycles in the FCT had evolved from traffic offences to serious security breach.

This, she said, had necessitated government intervention in order to to curb the activities of commercial motorcyclists.

“There is an existing ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles in the city and that is what we are here to enforce.

“We have just impounded some of them and we are going to crush them for security reasons.

“The operators should not come near the city. If you want to operate, go to where it is approved in the suburbs and other rural areas.

“Commercial operators of motorcycles are not welcome in the city,” she said.

Also speaking, Dr Peter Olumuji, Secretary, Command and Control Centre, FCTA Department of Security Services, said that the operation was part of efforts to curb criminality in the city.

Olumuji said that the recent arrests of kidnapping suspects revealed that commercial motorcycles were being used for quick escape after committing crime.

He insisted that crushing the impounded motorcycle would strengthen the enforcement of the ban on their operations in the FCT and enhance the security and safety of residents.

The News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports that the operation was carried out on major highways in the city, namely: Kubwa, Airport Road, Apo and Lokogoma.

However, some Abuja residents have kicked against the incessant crushing of impounded motorcycles.

They said that destruction of motorcycles should rather be replaced with stiffer fines or the auctioning of such motorcycles for use in areas where their operations were not banned.

According to the residents, the heavy fines will discourage riders from veering into areas where their presence was not permitted. (NAN)