At least 11,350 people were apprehended in 2012 for various traffic offences across the nation’s capital city of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said.
Also, a total of 1,231 commercial motorcycles, popularly known as okada, were impounded and taken to the Abuja Auto-Pound within the period under review.
FCT Minister Bala Mohammed, who made this disclosure at the weekend in Abuja, said that a total of 9, 143 motorcycles had been impounded since October 1, 2006 when their use in certain parts of the federal capital territory was banned.
He wondered why motorcycle riders, despite continued arrests, still remain unrelenting in plying some of the banned areas.
He promised them a harder time in 2013, as officials of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) have been given stern instruction to stamp out their illegal activities in the restricted areas of the city.
The further minister revealed that the FCT Administration recorded 479 automobile accidents on the roads of the Federal Capital Territory in 2012.
He added that Traffic Offences Mobile Courts set up last year would be further encouraged to discharge their duties in sanitising roads and reducing traffic bottlenecks in the city, particularly at peak hours.
He warned that the year 2013 would not be business as usual because all traffic offences in the Federal Capital Territory would be severely punished.
Mohammed, therefore, called for cooperation and understanding of the motoring public in order to improve general traffic situation in the city, describing the man hours wasted in heavy traffics as counter-productive.