By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
In a continued effort to return sanity to the Capital City, the Directorate of Road Traffic Services of the Federal Capital Territory has impounded over 20 vehicles for operating as commercial taxis and illegal parks within the city center.
The Directorate’s Head of Operations, Deborah Osho, disclosed this after the DRTS task force operation impounded vehicles, on Friday at Area 3, Garish-Apo Bridge, and the Federal Secretariat.
Osho stated that aside from the illegality of the operations of the vehicles, the vehicles obstructed the Abuja Master plan and defaced the city, while also noting the security threats that they posed to the city.
She added that some vehicles were also not roadworthy, and were therefore not to be in the city, adding that offenders would be charged to a mobile court, while the DRTS would get the permission of the court to butcher non-roadworthy vehicles, who could not be repaired.
“It’s not that these guys don’t have a place to go, they can enter Eagle Square and pick up their passengers there. But they have chosen to do illegal parks or to park their vehicles illegally on this route to pick up passengers. Not only that, some vehicles as we have witnessed are just not roadworthy.”
” They are not roadworthy, they do not befit even to be in the city centre, yet they are all piling the city centre, defacing the city centre.”
“Most of them will be handed over to the mobile court, the mobile court is the next action. They will be arraigned before the mobile court, and a pronouncement will be made, and some of them will pay some huge sum of fine before they are released.”
” And those that have non-roadworthy vehicles, some of them, if the vehicles can be repaired, they will repair before they leave, before it can be released. If not, it will be butchered. We will seek the court to permit us to butcher the vehicles, that’s what we will be doing, she explained.
Furthermore ,the Secretary of the Command and Control Unit in the FCT Administration, Peter Olumuji, stated that the operation was focused on illegal parking lots and unpainted taxis in the FGCT, noting that while the Administration was aware of the economic challenges, it was important to ensure the safety and security of residents.
“When you allow such to persist, then those who have criminal intentions too will capitalize on it and that is what we have seen in recent times. I believe that is why the DRTS has a robust platform they’ve established that, if you now want to go into a commercial venture, then there is a platform you have to register with them, and you will not be disturbed.”
“But not just wantonly doing what is wrong, and you want the government to close their eyes all in the name of the economy is hard. Yes, the economy is hard, but that does not mean that security and safety issues will not be tackled accordingly”, he said.
