Kano: Alhaji Kabiru Yusuf-Nadabo, a retired Assistant Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has raised concerns over the recklessness of commercial tricycle operators, popularly known as Keke Napep, along major highways in Kano State.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Yusuf-Nadabo observed that recently tricycle operators had extended their operations beyond the city centre to major highways, contrary to established traffic regulations. Speaking in an exclusive interview, he recalled that the state government had in 2013 banned commercial motorcycles and introduced tricycles as an alternative means of transportation.
He highlighted that stakeholders had reached a gentleman’s agreement restricting tricycle operations within designated urban routes, and tricycles were not expected to ply major highways like other vehicles. Yusuf-Nadabo urged security agencies, including the FRSC, Police Force, and Kano Road Traffic Agency, to collaborate to curb the growing menace.
The former FRSC official emphasized that security and safety go hand in hand, but much attention was being given to security while safety was 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.
He mentioned that 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, a situation observed on Wudil road, where tricyclists now go beyond Wudil to Gaya. To address traffic challenges, he called for meetings involving traditional rulers, Police, NSCDC, transport unions, and media to review traffic situations and collectively make decisions.