On Monday, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) impounded 69 vehicles for various offences as part of its continued efforts to make Abuja city safe and clean.

The FCT impounded the vehicles and the Security Task Force at different locations in Abuja.

Abdulatef Bello, a director at the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), said that the seizures were in continuation of operations to clean the city of illegal operators of commercial vehicles. According to him, it is to improve the security of lives and properties in Abuja.

Mr Bello explained that the vehicles were impounded for offences such as wrong parking, operating ricketier vehicles, number plate violation, and vehicles suspected to belong to one chance operators, among others.

He said the FCTA would not rest in its effort to ensure the city was clean from all kinds of nuisance. He added that the owners of the impounded vehicles would be prosecuted by the FCT mobile court sitting on the premises of the DRTS.

The director said three vehicle owners, suspected to be one-chance operations, would be handed over to the police for prosecution. He attributed the high number of casualties of one-chance operators to the ineffectiveness of the mass transportation system in the city.

Displaying a sharp object seized from a suspected one-chance driver, the secretary of the Command and Control Unit, FCTA, Peter Olumuji, said the administration was working hard to curb the menace.

Mr Olumuji advised road users to patronise only painted taxis for their safety, adding that efforts were ongoing to address the transportation deficit in the city.

Mukhtar Galadima, a director at the Department of Development Control, FCTA, blamed the high rate of crimes in Abuja on indiscipline.

Mr Galadima said FCTA would continue to sensitise road users on the need to be extra careful when using taxis to avoid becoming victims of one-chance operators. He advised residents against patronising unpainted taxis or those without number plates. 

(NAN)