Nine commercial motorcylists have been arrested for protesting against officials of Federal Road Safety Commission in Minna, Niger State

THE Police Command in Niger on Monday said it had arrested nine commercial motorcyclists for embarking on protest against officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Dibal Yakadi, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna, said the suspects would be charged to court for causing public nuisance.

Yakadi said that the FRSC officials were discharging their official duties when the motorcyclists disrupted their operation.

NAN learnt that the motorcyclists disrupted traffic for several hours and cut down trees as they protested.

They also blocked the entrance to the state office of the FRSC along Bosso road for hours.

“We will not allow any person or group of people to take laws into their hands, we will investigate and those found wanting would be dealt with,” the commissioner said.

One of the motorcyclists, Abubakar Isa, told NAN that their protest was necessitated by the constant harassment from the FRSC officials.

“We embarked on the protest because of the high handedness of FRSC officials.

“They disturb us daily from doing our legal business, they arrest us indiscriminately and seize our motorcycles,” Isa said.

Mr Garba Yusuf, FRSC Sector Commander in the state, also told NAN that some motorcyclists had attacked the commission’s office.

He said that the inability of the motorcyclists to have their proper documents were responsible for the protest.

“We sat with their leaders and gave them three months within which to have their documents ready but they failed to do so.

“We will not allow any commercial motorcyclist to operate without proper documents and most of them do not obey traffic rules and regulations,’’ Yusuf said. (NAN)

– Feb.  12, 2018 @ 17:59 GMT |