Route Violations, Rickety Vehicles Rising In Abuja – Dantata

A public affairs commentator and former media aide, Comrade Salihu Dantata Mahmud, has expressed concern about increasing violations of traffic rules by motorcycles and tricycles, as well as the growing number of rickety vehicles in Abuja City Centre.

Dantata also alleged that some criminal elements were using motorcycles to rob residents in parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In an interview with journalists in Abuja, he identified areas such as Obasanjo Estate Junction in Area 11 and Garki Hospital Junction as locations where such incidents occur at night.

“There is route violation by motorcycles, tricycles and increased rickety vehicles in the city centre, with some criminal-minded people using motorcycles to rob at Obasanjo Estate Junction in Area 11 in the night, Garki Hospital Junction and other areas,” he said.

The former personal assistant to a former minister of the Interior and the former special assistant on Media to the Minister of State for Works acknowledged the efforts of the FCT Ministerial Task Force but said it was facing manpower challenges.

“Even though the ministerial task force is trying, they have a shortage of manpower,” he stated.

Dantata also commended the FCT commissioner of police, Mohammed Sanusi, and the director of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Abubakar Yaldu, for their efforts in addressing traffic-related challenges in the capital city.

“While the FCT commissioner of police, Mohammed Sanusi, as well as the DRTS director, Abubakar Yaldu, have been putting in their best, the past efforts of operational officers of the DRTS that stand on the road helped to curb certain menace,” he said.

He admitted that some DRTS officials had misbehaved in the course of duty but argued that such conduct should not be used to judge all officers.

“Agreed that some officers misbehaved, but that does not point to the fact that all are bad,” he added.

Dantata called on the FCT Transportation Secretariat to retrain some operational personnel of the DRTS, particularly on public conduct and engagement.

“All that the Transportation Secretariat needed to do was to properly train some of the operational staff for decency and how to deal with the general public, rather than their agbero ways sometimes,” he said.

He also commended Yaldu for making number plates accessible and appealed to the FCT minister to increase funding for the agency.