At least 300 vehicles were, on Friday, impounded by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for indiscriminate parking, road unworthiness, and offering taxi services without former registration.
According to Abdulateef Bello, Director, FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Service DRTS, who disclosed this in Abuja during enforcement operations in some parts of the city, owners of the vehicles impounded are currently facing a Mobile Court.
Bello, while explaining, said that with the renewed directive of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to clean the city of nuisances, the service will not relent in its effort to ensure that offenders are punished, adding that with the review of the law guiding motor vehicle operations in the FCT and followed by the immediate prosecution of offenders by the FCT mobile Court, rising cases of traffic violations would be effectively curtailed.
He said, “The Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, on the assumption of office, observed some high levels of nuisances in various degrees in the city centre and the entire territory, and he has read his riot act that the territory must be clean of all these within a specified period.
“We are aware that the city is a project, and until when we have the mass transit in operation, which will cater for numbers of people who need to leave the city to the suburbs and come from the suburbs to work in the city, we will continue to battle with a number of unregistered vehicles that are coming into the city because it is a function of demand and supply, but I am sure in no time all these will be a thing of the past”.
“We are waiting for the authority to give access to the review of our transport regulation, which was done late last year but of course all those offences have been reviewed and then their fines will be equally reviewed upwards. It is going to be weighing for those traffic offenders by the time they face mobile court, but I am sure it will serve as a deterrent.
“We are now extending our coverage to reach out to agencies fond of parking vehicles on the green verge and walkways. I think with the shortest time possible, given the new energy provided by the honourable minister and the demonstration of the political way, of course, we will raid the city for all manners of traffic offences within the shortest time possible
“Arising from that, a joint task team was constituted with all the security agencies involved to clean the city and for the fact that this is the aspect that concerns us, we supported the team with our task force and a number of vehicles were removed from the city.”