The Edo State Government has rolled out a licensing system for motorcycle and tricycle riders in the state, in furtherance of its efforts to check the influx of undocumented operators and curb criminality perpetuated with the motorcycles and tricycles in the state.
Director of Transport, Ministry of Infrastructure, Mr. George Aghahowa, in a chat with journalists, said the government plans to do this with the introduction of the Edo State Riders’ Permit, which would build a database of motorcycle and tricycle riders in the state for ease of identification and tracking.
According to him, “We have commenced the issuance of the Edo State Riders Permit. The initiative is intended to sanitise the operations of tricycle and motorcycle operations across the state. While motorcycles and tricycles remain prohibited in Benin metropolis, it remains a veritable means of transportation in other major towns and suburban areas in the state.
“What we intend to do is to create a database that would profile all those operating motorcycles and tricycles in the state through the Riders’ Permit registration scheme and they get incentives to be enlisted, ranging from unique identification codes, health and life insurance packages as well as legitimacy to conduct business within the state.”
He added that another aim of the scheme is to check the influx of undocumented drivers, who hide under the guise of riding motorcycles to perpetrate crime in the state. “We often have incidents of robberies and kidnappings perpetrated by those who ride motorcycles. This would be put to a stop with this initiative, as all others with permits to conduct business would bear unique codes identifying them as genuine operators.”
