If you think that we have a bad situation with roads that are closed to motorbikes at the weekend, think of this. In Nigeria, the government is considering a nationwide ban on the sale and use of motorcycles to stem terror attacks.
The federal government of Nigeria is strongly considering banning the sale and use of motorcycles nationwide as a new, unusual, tactic to stop terror attacks.
Nigeria’s Justice Minister Abubakar Malami hopes a motorcycle ban will seriously hamper terrorists’ logistics efforts, as motorcycles are the preferred mode of transport for terrorist attacks. In addition to the ban on motorcycles, the government is also considering a ban on mining activities in the country.
“By enacting a ban on the use of motorcycles and mining activities, the logistics for the terrorists will decrease,” Malami said.
“This will happen in the national interest. We are Nigerians because Nigeria exists as a country and any issue that translates into a threat to the national security or the business existence of the country requires certain sacrifices.”
With a population of over 200 million people, Nigeria is the sixth most populous country in the world with annual motorcycle sales exceeding 500,000. According to the minister, less than a third of Nigerian population will be affected by the motorcycle ban, so it is worth the sacrifice.
“Regardless of the means considered for the potential ban, this is a sacrifice that we see as a solution to the security challenges and I think no sacrifice is too great in that regard,” said Malami.
“Most of all, when you talk about a motorcycle ban, I think the number of people using these motorcycles is less than 20 percent of the Nigerian population,” he said. “So if that percentage is called to make a sacrifice that is ubiquitous or affects more than 200 million Nigerians, I think that sacrifice is not too much and is worth considering.”
The national ban on motorcycles does not come out of the blue, by the way, at local level a ban on motorcycles has already been imposed in several places, including the capital Lagos, where commercial motorcyclists have been banned in six districts since May this year. to reduce the high number of accidents. Commercial motorcycles have also been banned in other states such as Kaduna, Akwa-Ibom, Enugu and Kano.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.