Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has announced that commercial tricycles (Keke Napep) and motorcycles (Okada) will continue to be prohibited from operating within Abuja’s city centre.
Speaking during his monthly media briefing on Tuesday, Wike said the decision followed deliberations at a recent FCT Security Council meeting, where authorities concluded that the activities of both operators now pose significant security risks in addition to causing public disorder.
According to him, he has already approved measures to enforce the restriction and directed security agencies to identify areas where the ban should be strictly implemented.
He said:
“You talked about Keke Napep and Okada, just this morning I signed the approval because we had a security council meeting were we agreed that they don’t just cause a nuisance but for the issue of security, it has become a threat.
“I have told the security people to map out areas where we do not need the Keke Napep and the motorcycles but it would be difficult to ban them in the entire Abuja, particularly.”
The minister explained that although a complete ban across the Federal Capital Territory would be difficult to enforce, the city centre would remain off-limits to both Okada and Keke operators.
Wike also spoke on the presence of beggars and destitute persons across Abuja, saying his administration would continue removing them from public spaces but would not provide permanent accommodation for them.
He argued that creating shelters could encourage more people from neighbouring states such as Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger and Kaduna to relocate to the capital.
He said:
“We are working that out and just need approval to raise logistics, even destitutes, beggars are all over the place. Each time we take them out they come in again. Some people say why not provide where they would be staying? How would we continue to be doing that, it means we are encouraging people to leave Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kaduna; how can you fund that?”
