• PPRO says no such case reported
Following the ban on motorcycles at night in Gombe State, some commercial motorcycle operators popularly called “Okada” or “Achaba” riders have alleged extortion by police officers in some parts of the state, in the name of enforcing the order.

The Guardian gathered that in the past weeks, police restricted the use of motorcycles across the state capital from 7.00am to 6.00pm, as a measure to curb phone snatching and thuggery in the state.

However, commercial motorcyclists told newsmen, yesterday, that policemen extort between N3,000 and N5,000 from them, particularly close to the restriction time.

An Achaba rider, Ismail Kawu, from Kagarawal community in Gombe metropolis, claimed that police officers demanded and collected N3,000 and N5,000 from him on two different occasions as he tried to head home to beat the restriction time.

“I was on my way home after the Gombe State University gate when I was stopped by police officers around 6.50pm and forced to give out the only N3,000 I earned for the day,” he decried.

Another rider, Ibrahim Abdul, said he faced similar extortion when policemen took N5,000 from him after they confiscated his motorcycle while he was returning home from the day’s job around 7.00pm.

“I was riding home to rest for the day, only for me to be stopped and my bike seized. I was forced to pay N5,000 before my bike was released,” he lamented.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Buhari Abdullahi, denied receiving any report on the alleged extortion.

He said there were 47 checkpoints set up to enforce the ban in the state capital, adding that senior officers go round to supervise the enforcement and that no such issue was ever reported to the command.

He, however, pledged to probe the matter.