Kabiru Yusuf-Nadabo, a retired assistant corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, has raised concerns about the recklessness of commercial tricycle riders on major Kano highways.

Mr Yusuf-Nadabo said he observed that tricycle riders recently extended their operations beyond the city centre to major highways, contrary to established traffic regulations.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Tuesday in Kano, he recalled that the Kano government had in 2013 banned commercial motorcycles and introduced tricycles as an alternative means of transportation.

“Stakeholders reached a gentleman’s agreement restricting tricycle operations within designated urban routes. On no account, therefore, were tricycles expected to ply major highways like other vehicles,” he said.

He urged security agencies, including the FRSC, the police force, and the Kano Road Traffic Agency, to collaborate to curb the growing menace.

The former FRSC official also recalled that security and safety go hand in hand, but much attention is given to security while safety is often neglected.

He urged the state government to urgently convene a stakeholders’ forum to reassess and enforce operational limits for tricycle operators to safeguard lives and property.

“Kano is unique in having eight major highways directly linking the city centre to other parts of the country, with operational limits for each route. Tricycles operating on highways pose serious traffic and safety risks. The same situation is observed on Wudil Road, where tricyclists now go beyond Wudil to Gaya.

“To address traffic challenges, there is a need for meetings of traditional rulers, police, NSCDC, transport unions, media, and others to review traffic situations and collectively take decisions,” he said.

Mr Yusuf-Nadabo also noted that crash statistics involving tricycles on highways were alarming and called for urgent intervention.

(NAN)