Civil Rights Advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, tasked heads of security institutions on emerging ‘Okada riders’ who are terrorizing local communities.
 
The group urged security forces to stop this emerging terror network made up mostly of “commercial motorcyclists” from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad and Cameroon, who are already showing signs of their avowed determination to destabilise Nigeria.
   
According to HURIWA, the heads of security institutions should put Nigeria above their ethnoreligious agenda and implement result-oriented mechanisms to stop this emerging terror network.
    
The group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said security agents must be put to work to use intelligence-led investigative skills to uncover the plotters and those recruiting these commercial motorcyclists because they are surely not lone wolves, but are persons brought in to execute politically motivated destabilising agenda for some entrenched forces scared that they may lose their political foothold in Nigeria once the current system is transited to the next government.  
  
HURIWA stated that the security forces may have indirectly permitted the influx of illegal aliens who are then given commercial motorcycles by their sponsors and are kept on standby for deployment towards the coming general elections.
 
It stated that concrete evidence of their well-coordinated plots can be discerned by the extent of their reach, networks and their near-infinite capacity to be mobilised within such a short time to wreak havoc even before security agents arrive.
    
HURIWA said there is an urgent need for Nigeria to declare a state of emergency on commercial bike riders and for a national security task force to be set up to coordinate surveillance and effective monitoring of the underground plots of these suspicious ‘Okada riders’ who are already venting their angst all around Nigeria.
    
The Rights group observed that although the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu last week slammed a fresh ban on the operations of Okada across six urbanised six local councils, the emerging terror cells of commercial motorcyclists go beyond Lagos State, going by the recent upsurge in violent attacks masterminded by commercial motorcyclists at the slightest provocation.  
   
It recalled that tension gripped traders in Deideicommunity, as irate motorcycle riders a few days back in their numbers went on a rampage at the Timber market and set it ablaze, following altercations between the traders and the motorcycle riders after a woman was killed by a trailer driver.

ALSO, the group has suggested that the attacks being unleashed in Anambra State are funded by political forces afraid that the emergence of the new political order led by Governor  Soludo may have displaced them.
 
The rights group tasked the Anambra State governor to invest substantially in intelligence-driven security activities to be able to capture, decapitate and degrade these forces bent on destabilizing Igboland.
  
Anambra State government needs to invest resources and manpower to uncover the forces wanting to, first of all, destroy the state so as to gain a foothold in destroying other southeastern states,” it added.