Elizabeth O.
Insecurities: We’ll ban unprinted taxis and buses in Abuja — Nyesom Wike
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is set to ban unpainted taxis and buses from plying roads in the nation’s capital.
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who disclosed this in Abuja said that the move was to address the incidence of ‘one chance’ in the city.
According to wike, “On one chance, remember there was a time it was an issue in this city. We were able to bring it down.
What we are trying to do now which we did not do in December but which we think we can achieve by this February is we are not going to allow vehicles without FCT colours, that is, not registered by the FCTA to operate commercially.
In that way, you know the driver is approved and his vehicle is approved by the FCTA so that as a passenger you don’t take the risk of going to board a vehicle that you don’t even know.”
Asked whether the policy would apply to ride-hailing services like Uber and Bolt, the minister said: “They would have to be registered too.
It tells you who the drivers are. We need to certify them. We need to profile then using the security agencies. This is a city. If we don’t have rules, it will be a problem.
I am surprised to note that a city like this does not have a loading terminal that takes charge of that. You know the drivers and vehicles that you are boarding. But now everybody is just on the road.
What we are trying to do by the grace of God in this fiscal year is to start with three terminals so that we know the buses and taxis from such terminals. Nobody would take the risk of going to the road to wait for taxis. If you do that, we will be able to reduce crime.”
I am not saying that with the provision of all these that you won’t have one or two crimes. No, it is not possible to eliminate crimes completely but you can reduce it drastically,” he stated.
