Nathan Osume,
By Emeka Nwokocha
Social crusader, grassroots politician and National Democratic Party’s Candidate for Delta Central Senatorial seat in the upcoming 2027 general elections, Nathan Osume, has called on Delta State government to provide a conducive environment for commercial tricycle (Keke) operators, stating that highhanded licensing policies that give vent to police harassment, extortion, and unlawful arrests of tricycle operators do not present the state in good light.
Nathan Osume made the call on Thursday while reacting to protests by commercial tricycle operators in Warri, few days whereby they seriously alleged unlawful arrests, extortion and harassment of their members by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force over what they described as discrepancies in the registration status of their keke number plates.
Osume charged Delta State government to speedily look into the complaints from the commercial tricycle operators and resolve them without wasting time, stressing the need for the government to support and encourage commercial tricycle operators in the state but to put more burden on them. Osume expressed deep empathy for commercial tricycle operators in the state for the stress they go through daily resulting from the harsh economic realities in the country, even as he commended their resilience and endurance as they struggle to make ends meet through tricycle transportation.
Continuing, Osume, the Mereje born politician, whose political prominence is growing strong across Delta State, also called on the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, CP Yemi Oyeniyi to caution police officers against unlawful arrest and extortion of commercial tricycle operators in the state under the guise of enforcing number plate compliance.
Osume expressed concern over the harsh environment that commercial tricycle operators ply their trade, saying, “They face a grueling daily reality due to soaring petrol costs, high maintenance expenses, and heavy multiple taxation.” He advised the government and its agencies to be intentional in providing a conducive environment for commercial tricycle operators to carry on with their transportation business without stress.
Osume particulary noted that with limited job alternatives, many youths are driven into harsh hire-purchase agreements, leaving them trapped in a cycle of debt, extortion, and grueling street harassment which severely cut into their daily profits. “Private business enterprise such as commercial tricycle business must not be endangered by government and its agents through harsh policies. Doing that will put the state in serious peril,” Osume warned. “Tricycle transportation is a self-sustaining business that must not be undermined because many unemployed youths earn their living driving tricycle,” he noted.
Recall that Nathan Osume has regularly shown strong commitment to the economic wellbeing of Deltans and have proved his capacity to catalyse unprecedented social and economic development across Delta Central when he becomes a senator in the progressing Nigerian political dispensation starting in 2027.