Bayelsa group criticises a month-long ban on keke riders.
The Bayelsa Development Initiative has chastised Governor Douye Diri for continuing to prohibit commercial tricycles, better known as Keke, from operating at night in Yenagoa and its environs.
In a statement issued by its Secretary, Michael Rodamini, the BDI said it was insensitive and inconceivable for the governor to have permitted a limitation that was supposed to be a stop-gap measure to extend longer than one month.
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Following a violent conflict between the youths of Yenizue-Epie in the Yenagoa Local Government Area and Keke riders on April 20, Diri halted commercial tricyclist activities from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
There were casualties as a result of the conflict.
However, the pressure group claimed that it was past time for the governor to ease the ban, claiming that it had harmed business.
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“Banning Keke at night, providing no alternative, allowing such a ban to linger, and pretending that everything is fine despite the negative effects on the people, especially during this rainy season, only emphasises this government’s anti-people stance.”
“We are also urging Douye Diri to lift the ban immediately in order to alleviate the plight of the masses,” the group said.