The Adamawa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has banned the use of motorcycles in the state.
The command said in a press statement sent to the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Tuesday that the ban was informed by rising crime rate.
The statement, which was signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Othman Abubakar, said the ban takes effect in all the 21 local government areas of the state till further notice.
“This has become necessary because of the incessant use of such motorcycles in the commission of heinous crimes such as kidnapping, armed banditry, communal clashes and other criminal activities in the state,” the statement read.
It added that the police would by the announcement of the ban “go all out on aggressive patrol and arrest of any defaulter of this directive.”
DAILY POST recalls that the ban had long been in place but was adhered to mostly in the state capital, Yola, especially in the city centre, while it was largely ignored in the rest of the state.
The fresh ban came as a reminder to how helpless residents of the state have been in the hands of not only motorcycle operators but users of tricycles, otherwise called Keke NAPEP.
Keke NAPEP, incidentally the major means by which residents of Yola move within the city, has often been used by youths notoriously named Shilla Boys, to commit much of the same crimes the police image maker mentioned.
The police PRO has frequently expressed frustration on how his men had been arresting Shilla Boys and taking them to court only for the same Shilla Boys to be back on the streets soon afterward.
