Police moved quickly to douse the flame of anger and uprising of commercial motorcycle riders, known as okada riders today, August 8 on the Airport road in Abuja.
A statement by the spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, DSP Josephine Adeh, narrated that today, 8th August 2022 at about 11:30 am, reports of civil unrest broke out around the Airport express road near Gosa market in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
The statement said that the incident which soon attracted many false narratives was merely an uncultured display of dissatisfaction by commercial Motorcycle riders, popularly called Okada who took to the streets burning tyres and other substances,
following the activities of the Task Force who had earlier confiscated some motorcycles for certain violations.
It said that upon the receipt of the information, Police Operatives from Iddo Divisional Police Headquarters were swiftly drafted to the scene where necessary measures were taken to restore peace and normalcy to the situation.
“Consequent upon the above, Members of the public are urged to eschew the generation and promulgation of fake news or contrary narratives and to go about the discharge of their lawful businesses without the fear of harassment or molestation of any kind or from any quarters.”
The statement said that the monitoring and surveillance have commenced on the scene even as effort is ongoing to arrest miscreants responsible for the disturbance of public peace.
It said that the Commissioner of Police, CP Babaji Sunday has reassured the residents of the command’s unflinching commitment to bringing crime and criminality to the barest minimum.
It warned that the burning of combustible material on Tarred road would be treated as vandalization of Government properties and the full wrath of the law will be meted out on erring person(s).
It advised the residents to continue to partner with the police as touching the prompt, concise and accurate rendition of information through the following emergency lines: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883. It added that the Public Complaint Bureau (PCB) desk can also be reached on 0902 222 2352.
