In an effort to keep Abuja clean and safe, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) seized 69 vehicles on Monday for a variety of offenses.
The FCT joint Security Task Force seized the vehicles at several sites throughout Abuja, the federal capital.
The seizures, according to Mr. Abdulatef Bello, Director of the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), were part of ongoing efforts to rid the city of commercial vehicle operators who were operating illegally.
He claims that this will increase the security of people’s lives and property in Abuja.
According to Bello, the automobiles were seized for offenses like improper parking, driving rickety vehicles, plate-number infractions, and vehicles believed to be operated by chance, among other things.
He assured us that the FCT Administration would continue to make every effort to keep the city free of all annoyances.
He further stated that the FCT Mobile Court, which is located on the grounds of the DRTS, would bring charges against the owners of the seized vehicles.
The director announced that three of the car owners, who were allegedly operating on one chance, would be turned over to the police for prosecution.
He blamed the city’s inefficient mass transit infrastructure for the high rate of fatalities among one-chance operators.
The Secretary of the FCTA’s Command and Control Unit, Mr. Peter Olumuji, demonstrated a sharp object that had been taken from one of the suspected one-chance operators and declared that the administration was making every effort to stop the problem.
For their own safety, Olumuji recommended drivers to only take painted cabs, noting that efforts were being made to remedy the city’s transportation shortfall.
Additionally speaking, Mr. Mukhtar Galadima, Director, of the Department of Development Control, FCTA, attributed indiscipline to the high number of crimes in the FCT.
Galadima stated that the FCTA would keep educating drivers about the need to take additional caution while taking taxis in order to avoid falling prey to one-chance operators.
He also cautioned locals against using unpainted cabs or taxis without license plates. (NAN)