Government to ban commercial motorcyclists in Uyo

The president of Akwa Ibom Professional Commercial Motorcyclists Association (APCOMA), Udo Okpon, has said commercial motorcyclists operating in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital should brace up for a complete ban on their operations noting that the ban was inevitable.

This is coming on the heels of the suspension of the recent restriction of motorcyclists within Uyo owing to the mayhem that led to the destruction of taxis and tricycles acquired by the state government to gradually faze out the use of motorcycles within the state capital.

Indicating that it was time members of the body started saving money to buy either the new taxis or tricycles they hoped would be provided by the government to replace the destroyed ones, Mr Okpon explained that they are committed to ensuring that registered members of the body benefit from the scheme put in place by government.

“I want to assure all commercial motorcyclists that as the chairman of the committee in-charge of the distribution of the taxis and tricycles, before the restriction is put in place as planned, the government may provide new tricycles and taxis, and all duly registered members would be accommodated in the scheme. Or alternatively those who would not want to continue in the trade, would be empowered to engage in any business of their choice.

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“Before now, many of them were into carpentry, automobile repairs or any other trade outside commercial motorcycling. But because they had no funds to engage in their respective trades, they became motorcyclists. We have proposed to the government to make provisions for loans for these sets of people and the government is willing to go along with the proposal,” said Mr Okpon.

Debunking insinuations that the members of the group would lose out in the distribution of the tricycles and taxis Mr Okpon said, “We are not politicians; that is why the state government handed over the distribution of these vehicles to me to handle so that beneficiaries are practising commercial motorcyclists. I assure you that beneficiaries of the scheme will be the duly registered members of APCOMA.” He exonerated registered motorcyclists in the state from the insecurity challenges witnessed in Uyo, saying no registered member of the body will use his/her motorcycle to commit crime. He said the body has contributed to crime prevention in the state, adding that the ban on motorcycle operation would be well coordinated such that parks would be created at strategic points in the outskirts of the city for their operations.

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