Nigeria is mulling a nationwide ban on motorbikes in a last-ditch attempt to crackdown on terrorists who continue to run amok in several parts of the country.
The government said the mode of transport was being used by armed jihadists to raid villages and towns across northern Nigeria, killing innocent civilians and taking hostages. It will also consider a ban on mining which is being used to illegally finance terrorist groups such as Boko Haram.
“Placing a ban on the use of motorcycles and mining activities will cut the supply of logistics to the terrorists,” said Abubakar Malami, the minister of justice.
“This will be done in the national interest”.
Motorbikes are common in Africa’s most populous country – it is estimated that over 20 per cent of the 200 million population has a bike. The controversial move was met with fierce criticism from opponents who believe that a blanket ban on motorbikes will stifle economic activity in areas that do not face a serious jihadist threat.
“If you ban the use of motorbikes in such areas - areas prone to terrorist attacks - one can understand it but if you put a blanket or overall ban in the country, I think it’s going to cause a lot of socio-economic problems,” said Mike Ejiofor, a former director of State Security Services.
This is the first time the government has toyed with the idea of a nationwide ban to target terrorist groups despite several localised bans in the past. Lagos, a megacity of more than 20 million people, banned commercial motorcycles from operating in six areas in May, accusing the drivers of committing crimes and traffic offences.
Despite a huge backlash, officials said the nationwide ban was a necessary sacrifice to deal with a proliferation of terrorist groups and armed gangs that threaten to overwhelm the giant West African country.
In recent years, Nigeria’s security services have struggled to deal with armed bandits staging hundreds of attacks in the northwest of the country. This adds to the decades-old fight against al-Qaeda linked jihadist groups in the northeast.
The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram, attacked a prison in Abuja earlier this month and freed more than 800 inmates. It is one of only a few times that terrorists have attacked Nigeria's capital city – in a worrying sign that security forces have failed to keep marauding jihadists at bay.
In March, armed bandits attacked a train travelling from Abuja to the northwestern Kaduna State, taking hundreds of passengers captive. Reports suggest that the bandits cooperated with Boko Haram in what officials have called “an unholy handshake”. Kidnapping for ransom has snowballed into a widespread security threat in the region as hundreds of children and babies have been taken from schools in Kaduna State over the last year.
The nationwide ban is the latest in a string of failed attempts by the government to restore peace and security to the troubled nation.
In 2017, officials earmarked $1 billion from Nigeria’s vast oil wealth to buy weapons and security equipment to fight terrorists in the northeast. The government bought six A-29 Super Tucano planes for $593 million from the US last year, in a controversial deal that critics said would not address the root causes of jihadism and insecurity.
