The Borno State Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu has warned operators of tricycle operators over alleged breaches of law and order in Maiduguri metropolis. The unwholesome misbehaviors of operators, according to the police chief, could however; breach peace in the state. Chukwu disclosed this on Wednesday in Maiduguri in a statement issued by DSP, Edet Okon, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO). According to Okon in the statement; the police commissioner regretted the “continued criminal conducts” of tricycle operators. “These are capable of leading to the breakdown of law and order in the state,” he said. He warned that the police will not sit down and abdicate their primary duty of maintaining law and order as well as the protection of lives and property. He said the breakdown of law and order, are perpetrated by some operators of tricycles within the metropolis. He therefore; urged any aggrieved person to seek redress through constituted authorities instead of taking laws into their hands. It would be recalled that following the protest embarked by different groups of tricycle operators on Monday, July 30, 2018, Chukwu swung into action and disbanded the State Central Motor Traffic Department (CMTD). He also ordered investigations into allegations of extortion leveled against security personnel in the metropolis. Despite measures by the police command, lawless conducts of tricycle operators, which included; violations of traffic laws and regulations, mob actions, rioting and other acts capable of causing breach of peace, however continued unabated. “There were flagrant disobedience of state laws and the rising acts of criminality such as robbery, diversion of passengers from their appropriate destinations for untoward purposes, acid attacks, molestation of unsuspecting passengers,” he said. He warned that the police will not fold their arms and watch criminals in whatever name or guise to unleash mayhem on law abiding citizens of the state. He said henceforth, operators of tricycles found violating the laws or caught fomenting trouble will be dealt with according to provisions of extant laws. “Aggrieved persons should not take the laws into their hands; but to always resort to lawful ways of addressing or pressing forth their grievances,” he warned.
