Kano suspends ban on tricycles, distributes 50 taxis to operators

Kano State government has suspended the ban on the operation of commercial tricyclists on some selected township roads a few hours after the start of enforcement.

The Managing Director of Kano Road and Transport Agency (KAROTA), Baffa Baba Dan’agundi, announced the suspension of the ban on Wednesday evening.

He cited the difficulties encountered by commuters due to insufficient deployment of alternative means of transport on the roads.

The government had announced the deployment of 100 buses as alternatives on the affected roads, but it was observed that many commuters were left stranded on Wednesday.

It was gathered that some miscreants vandalised 12 of the buses, leading the operator - Kano Metropolitan Transport Company to withdraw the buses for several hours.

Dan’agundi said as soon as the government was assured that the company was ready for full deployment of the 100 buses, the restriction would be reintroduced.

Earlier in the day, the Kano State Investment and Properties Limited (KSIP) handed over 50 cars to associations of commercial tricyclists and taxi riders to complement the 100 buses already deployed by the government.

The managing director of KSIP, Dr Mohammed Jibrilla, said the taxis were an intervention to sanitise the transport sector and reduce the traffic congestion in the state metropolis, as well as alleviate the challenges to be encountered by commuters and tricyclists along the routes.

He explained that the taxis would not be plying the same roads as the buses but would pick up commuters from the restricted roads and take them to other areas of the city.

He added that each taxi was bought for N3.7 million and would be given out on a hire-purchase scheme at the rate of N4.5 million, payable in 36 months.