Commercial tricycles, popularly known as Keke Napep, and motorcycles will remain barred from operating within the Abuja city centre over growing security concerns, the Federal Capital Territory Administration has said.
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said the decision followed resolutions reached at the FCT Security Council meeting, where authorities concluded that the operations of both Keke Napep and Okada had become not only a nuisance but also a security threat.
Speaking during his monthly media chat in Abuja, Wike disclosed that he had already approved fresh measures to restrict their operations in designated areas, although he acknowledged that enforcing a blanket ban across the entire Federal Capital Territory would be difficult.
“You talked about Keke Napep and Okada, just this morning I signed the approval because we had a security council meeting where 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 also said the administration would continue to remove beggars and other destitute persons from the city, saying the FCTA could not shoulder the responsibility of providing accommodation for people arriving from neighbouring states.
“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?”
