BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has moved to address the rising incidents of jungle justice perpetrated by commercial motorcyclists, popularly called Okada Riders, in the nation’s seat of government.
Accordingly, the Command has engaged the leadership of the Okada riders’ associations with the aim of addressing the menace and ensuring the mob actions are no longer allowed to fester within the territory and its environs.
A statement by the Deputy FCT Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Oduniyi Omotayo, said the meeting became necessary following “the recent spate of the outbreak of violence largely traceable to commercial motorcyclists popularly known as okada riders.”
He regretted that the ugly development has become a menace occasionally playing out as self-help by some groups, especially the commercial cyclists, in “obtaining jungle justice, vandalization of government and private properties, and sundry anti-social behaviours demanding an immediate redress.”
The meeting, held at the FCT Police Command headquarters in Abuja, saw about 150 leaders of the various unions of okada riders attending.
Addressing participants at the meeting, FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Babaji Sunday, charged them to turn a new leaf and work in synergy with the Police to fish out the bad eggs among them.
Similarly, the Police boss urged them to obey traffic rules and eschew the habit of resorting to violence at the slightest provocation, warning that henceforth adequate sanctions would be meted out to erring ‘Okada Riders’ in line with existing laws in the FCT.
In their interventions at the meeting, some of the groups’ chairmen who spoke on behalf of their members, thanked the Police Commissioner with a promise to always play by laid down rules going forward.
He also reassured all FCT residents of the Police Command’s unflinching commitment to riding the territory of criminal elements while ensuring that crime and criminality are brought down to the barest minimum.
The Commissioner of Police pleaded with members of the public to always remain calm and shun the temptation of taking laws into their hands and perpetrating jungle justice.
He further spoke on the need for Abuja residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious or abnormal occurrence to the police through the following emergency lines: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883, While the Public Complaint Bureau (PCB) desk, could be reached on: 0902 222 2352.
