YDA Protests Against Edo Govt Directive Of Painting Vehicles

The Edo State chapter of Yaris Drivers Association, today staged a peaceful protest against the state government’s directive of mandatory painting of their vehicles with the state colour code.
According to them, adopting the state colour code will hinder them access to areas they hitherto were accessing.
The group in their large numbers with placards with inscriptions such as “Painting Is Not Security, The Code Is The Security”, “Yaris Drivers Are Responsible People”, “We Are Not Criminals Or Kidnappers”, said it is not the solution to rising insecurity in the state.
Speaking to Journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council secretariat, chairman of the Association, Mr. Paul Evbuomwan said while they were in support of the governor’s fight against insecurity, he believed that giving the drivers codes would be better as it will help in tracking cabs used for criminal activities and not the colour.
“Painting the vehicle does not in any way secure anybody inside the vehicle, whether you are in or out of the vehicle at any time. So, what we are saying here is that, we want the code, but the painting is going to hinder our operations as we wouldn’t be able to access environments like Airports, banks schools etc. because the vehicle is painted with commercial vehicle colors.
“We all know that if you hire a cab, the essence is for it to take you to your doorstep destination. Now, you are dropping the person at the airport gate and asking the person to trek inside and with time, passengers would stop patronizing our services.
The state Chairman of NUJ, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, commended them for embarking on their protest in a peaceful manner and assured them that their story will be given the necessary attention that it demands.