Akwa Ibom State has outlawed the operation of commercial motorcyclists within Eket metropolis following reports of rape cases and other heinous crimes being perpetrated by hoodlums disguised as commercial motorcyclists.
The state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel who announced the ban in his remarks at the 4th anniversary celebration of his wife’s Pet project “Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Programme, FEYReP, held Thursday in Uyo, decried the alarming rate of rape in the state and country at large in recent times.
Emmanuel who condemned a situation where hoodlums now disguise as commercial motorcyclists to rob, murder unsuspecting members of the public, kidnap, rape young women, frowned at the protest by motorcyclists on Tuesday in Uyo.
He said, “I’m banning motorcycle operations from today in Eket because the crimes are traced to those people, so why are they protesting? Sometimes you think they are doing the right thing when actually it is the wrong thing they do.
“A lot of what Her Excellency talked about rape cases is traced to motorcycle riders. They carry those young ladies and drive them to unknown destinations, sometimes to a bush track where they molest them.
“We have apprehended one of them and I’ve, spoken to the Local Government Chairman to ensure that he is prosecuted in the law court.”
The governor recounted a chilling story of how a young and innocent lady who was taken to one of the hideouts was gang raped, and she cried out to passersby for help but they (passersby) failed to rescue her.
He announced that three out of four rapists were eventually apprehended and would be made to face the wrath of the law.
