By: Salim Ashir
The long queue of commuters along the old Sokoto market has eased following the intervention of the joint security task force, which visited the place in order to enforce the free flow of vehicles along the road on Wednesday.
The long queues, which had become a daily occurrence along the busy market area, were attributed to the wrong parking, roadside trading, and other violations of traffic laws by motorists and other road users in the area.
The Joint Task Force, led by the sector commandant of the Federal Road Safety Corps in the state, Umar Adamu Argungu, comprises the Federal Road Safety Corps, the police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Special Marshal, who were on the ground to monitor the compliance of traffic laws by commuters.
The sector commandant, while briefing journalists, stated that they were present because they had been receiving complaints from commuters regarding the persistent gridlock along the road.
“We are here to clarify where there are long hold-ups along the old market road due to the high number of complaints we receive daily. People have been suffering delays on this road, in which some may spend one hour instead of passing within five to ten minutes.” He said.
Argungu therefore urged motorists and other road users to maintain discipline in order to prevent future occurrences, warning that violators, if caught, would face sanctions in subsequent enforcement exercises.
“Today, we are only sensitising them against road blockage and traffic violations. But in our subsequent visit, we will put penalties on the defaulters,” Argungu added.
The sector commandant also directed all traders conducting buying and selling activities at the roadside, resulting in the blocking of the road along the old market, to vacate the place within two weeks, warning that continued blocking of the road will not be tolerated.
Some motorists, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Isah Yusuf, who spoke to our reporter, said that the road is now free to drive, saying that “we now pass within a few minutes instead of remaining in a long queue due to the congestion of traffic for long periods.”
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