The Federal Government is mulling the idea of placing a nationwide ban on motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, and mining activities.
Rising from a National Security Council meeting on Thursday that was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced that the government was considering the ban as part of the strategy to curb terrorist activities, checkmate loopholes and cut off their sources of funding for their dastardly operations.
According to him, investigations are still ongoing though to especially to establish the link between mining and motorcycles which are thought to provide funding for the supply of arms to the terrorists.
Malami, who noted that terrorists had moved from the conventional ways of funding their activities to mining and ransom taking, disclosed the government was not unaware of the economic consequences of the proposed resolutions, particularly, the motorcycle ban but it has become imperative in order to guarantee the nation’s security.
Terrorist groups, particularly in Nigeria, are increasingly interested in controlling areas of production of gold just as they rely heavily on motorcycles as means of mobility because of the ease with it can be maneuvered and fuel economy.
The opportunistic nature of these activities ties strongly to the fact that gold is often the preferred mineral of the terrorist groups as many of these groups use this to secure a source of funding for their future operations.
