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Rt. Hon. (Mrs) Onyemaechi Mrakpor, Director General, Delta state Capital Territory Development Agency.

Worried by the unwholesome and nefarious activities of Keke (tricycle operators) and Okada (motor cycle) operators in Asaba, Delta State Government is rising to the occasion with a view to protecting lives and properties of the citizens who in recent times have been victims of vicious attacks and dispossession of their properties when they board these means of transportation.

Besides, the state government is also ready to take on those who have decided to deface the erstwhile aesthetics of the Delta State Capital Territory by returning their canopies and umbrellas to the streets for trading activities in unauthorized places by asking them desist from such illegal activities.

Indication to the forgoing came today at a press briefing called by the Director General of the Delta State capital Territory Development Agency (DSCTDA), Rt. Hon. (Mrs) Joan Onyemaechi Mrakpor in company of the Commissioner for information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu attended also by representatives of the Keke and motor cycle operators.

Introducing the matter, Mr. Aniagwu said: “The state government has started noticing some form of attacks on citizens who are robbed of their belongings when they board Keke tricycles, and the defacing of the beautiful work being done on the city. And the government has decided to step in with some far reaching decisions.”

Hitting the nail on the head, Mrs. Mrakpor said that since the state government will not tolerate any activities of criminal elements in the state that it was necessary to inform State capital Territory residents that as from Monday, November 25, 2020 that the task force will commence operation to pick out keke operators who are not registered with them.

The move, according to her is to ensure that genuine Keke and motorcycle operators and not hoodlums are known.

Accordingly, Mrs Mrakpor called the keke operators union and the various units of okada operators to check , streamline the activities of their members with a view to identifying the genuine operators as opposed to hoodlums disguising as keke and okada riders.

She said that while the state government would not want to ban keke and okada operators from doing business because of the state of the nation’s economy, she noted equally that it is also not the intention of the state government to allow any body without genuine intentions to come into Delta State to undermine the rules of decency and do as they like.

“We are a state that is responsible and so we need to let our residents to know that they should their environment clean,” Mrs. Mrakpor said.

The commissioner for information decried a situation where dirts are indiscriminately thrown on the road by passengers in keke on the roads instead of disposing such items properly into the waste baskets in the keke. “The state government is going to streamline the operation of Keke and okada riders; we cannot continue to undermine the virtues of cleanliness and live like pigs.

Pointing out that it was understood that those who perpetrate the evil are not from Asaba but come to Asaba from neigbouring states Aniagwu said the state government was taking seriously the issue of identifying route where a keke and okada operator operates from. “You cannot live in Onitsha and come to operate your Keke in Asaba. The security of our people is very important for Delta state Government. You must know the unit where you are operating from. Keke is not intercity. You want to operate in Asaba, come and live in Asaba, Aniagwu said, stressing that for security consideration we will not all keke operators to operate without belonging to units.

He added that those bringing back their tarpaulins to unauthorized place on the streets to sell should desist as the task force will begin the work of checking them as from Monday morning on November 25, 2020.

Aniagwu said: “We want Asaba to be a 24 hours city, where people should safe and not live in fear of insecurity.

“As part of our streamlining effort, the state government will define routes for keke and okade operators, and task force members must be obeyed.”