A youth group under the aegis of North-East Youth Transformation Forum, on Sunday, faulted the plan by the Federal Government to ban commercial motorcycles known as ‘Achaba’.
Achaba is a two-wheeled conveyance used for transporting commuters and goods due to its ability to move into difficult terrain.
While Achaba has its advantages, criminal elements had also been using it to perpetrate heinous crimes in the region.
Recall that the minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, recently disclosed that the federal government would consider banning commercial motorcycles throughout the country as part of measures to tackle security challenges.
But the group, through its President, Comrade Abdulrazak Albani, decried the decision, stressing that it would subject about 98 million Nigerians to hardship.
According to him, out of the 200 million people in the country, over 98 million of its population suffer from abject poverty and do not have vehicles of their own pointing. Achaba ban would further make them vulnerable and miserable.
Albani revealed that aside from making transportation difficult for the poor citizens, the decision would render commercial motorcyclists jobless as well as increase the rate of crimes in society.
He said, “The population of the country hit over 200 million now and statistics by the UNDP reveals that people living below the poverty line in the nation are 98 million, almost half of the population. These people cannot afford three square meals daily let alone possess transportation vehicles.
“So, the ban on motorcycles operation will compound their problems and make many people jobless.
“We, therefore, call on our senators, house of representatives members, governors, traditional and religious leaders to prevail on the federal government to jettison this decision.”