The commissioning of 3,000 electric bicycles by President Bola Tinubu on Saturday, has left many residents on the edge, over the state police command insisting that a ban on motorcycle use remains in full effect.
While the President lauded the scheme as a step toward rural mobility, the police have warned that any citizen found operating a motorcycle, electric or petrol-powered, will be arrested.
The Borno State Security Council imposed a total ban on motorcycles on July 25, 2024, as a measure to combat persistent security challenges, due to the use of motorcycles by insurgent to carry out deadly attacks in the state. Since then, the state has adopted the use of tricycles and buses for public transportation.
Governor Babagana Zulum, on December 20, presented a multi-billion naira fleet of e-vehicles to President Tinubu for inauguration. However, within 48 hours of the ceremony, the Borno State Police Command issued a warning and also reminded that the ban of motorcycles had not been lifted.
The Borno State police spokesperson, ASP Nahum Daso, confirmed that the ban subsists and covers both petrol and electric vehicles. Security operatives from the police, as at the time this report was published, are currently monitoring filling stations and roads to arrest violators.
The command has observed the flagrant use of motorcycles, especially electric bikes… Any person found in possession will be arrested. The order came as an executive directive from the governor, and it has not been changed – ASP Nahum Daso, Borno Police Spokesperson
Governor Zulum’s media team has deferred the issue to the police, stressing that if the command says the ban is on, that remains the position of the government, leaving residents unclear on the purpose of the 3,000 bikes Commissioning.
How will you come and inaugurate 3,000 motorbikes that you have banned? Are they to be kept until the ban is lifted? The government should clarify so we know if we can buy them – Ibrahim Hassan, Maiduguri Resident
Leave a comment