Niger State government has ordered the ban on the use of commercial motorcycles in the state capital, Minna, with effect from Thursday, June 3, 2021.

In a statement issued by Mohammed Ketso, Niger deputy governor, the action was attributed to the need to check criminal activities perpetrated by bandits in the state.

According to Ketso, private owners can still continue to operate between the hours of 6am and 9pm daily.

“These are parts of measures being put in place by the government towards addressing the rising security situation in the state, especially Minna, the state capital,” he said.

While assuring of the government’s commitment towards supporting security agencies with the required logistics to secure the state, Ketso apologised for inconveniences the ban may have caused.

About security situation in Niger state

Niger is one of the North Central states in Nigeria most affected by bandits attacks. The rise in attacks in recent times have been attributed to the forceful relocation of criminals from neighbouring states such as Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina due to increased activities of security agents

The fragile state of security in the state was compounded on Sunday when armed bandits abducted many pupils of an Islamic school in Tegina, a densely populated town in Rafi Local Government Area of the state. 

The bandits reportedly attacked the police station in the town and went round the town shooting sporadically into the air to scare residents before breaking into a private school where they abducted children attending Islamic lectures.

The mass abduction of the Islamic school students was the second to be perpetrated in Rafi local government in six months. A similar abduction in Kagara, another town in the same Rafi local government area had happened in February.

Asides the attack on schools, thousands of residents across different local government areas of the state have been displaced after the invasion of bandits.

Besides the threat posed by banditry, the state governor Sani Bello in April confirmed the presence of dreaded Boko Haram terrorists in Shiroro LGA of Niger State.