BY SUNNY A. DAVID
The Anambra State Police Command say the effectiveness of the Anambra State Transport Management Code (ATMC) can not be overemphasized because the platform has helped tremendously in the detection and prevention of crimes.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu who gave the commendation during an exclusive interview in his office at the Command Headquarters Awka, said the ATMC has made it possible to track down recalcitrant road users especially Keke riders who indulge in nefarious activities with their tricycles.
He explained that the ATMC initiative was a laudable invention of the State government because it has really helped to reorganize and revamp the transport industry in Anambra and also helped to beef up security across the State.
According to Mr. Ikenga, “The ATMC has helped us to identify the real Keke owners. The good thing about the creation of ATMC is that they are registered and the process of registration is verifiable such that they are given identification numbers boldly inscribed on their tricycles for easy identification.”
The Police Public Relations Officer was of the opinion that the use of tricycles for criminal activities was new to the State and that since the assumption of duty of the new Police Commissioner CP Monday Bala Kuryas, the Police had collaborated with critical stakeholders to nip criminal elements in the bud.
He therefore noted that government had placed a ban on the use of vehicles with tinted glasses and covered plate numbers but he equally observed that the disgruntled elements had restrategised and changed their modus operandi to the use of tricycles to unleash terror and mayhem on unsuspecting citizens.
As a result, DSP Ikenga explained that the command had embarked on what he described as 24 hours visibility policing across the entire state to help clamp down on criminal elements, stressing that the presence of police personnel in all the nooks and crannies of the state had helped to deter hoodlums from perpetrating evil.
The Police Image Maker said, “Anambra State Government is assisting us with operational assets which has enabled us to launch Operation Nkpochapu 2 while Operation Udoka is still ongoing. All in a bid to stem the tide of criminalities in the State.
“Also in Onitsha Head Bridge, you see some young men on yellow or blue T-shirts with the inscriptions ‘Anambra Youths On Traffic.’ These are youths that have volunteered to support the Police in their operations.”
The Police Spokesman however emphasized that the ATMC platform had aided the Police in tracking down tricycles involved in nefarious activities.
The Police Image Maker pointed out also that the Police had not relented in the enforcement of the executive order on ban of Keke riders plying highways even as he admonished Keke unions in the State to always assist the Police with useful intelligence for security purposes.
