Traders, students stranded as Kano tricycle riders begin strike over N8k levy

Tricycle operators in Kano, on Monday, began a seven-day strike to protest the registration levy imposed by the Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA).

TheCable understands that the tricycle operators embarked on the industrial action to protest the N8,000 levy announced by the state for renewal of registration.

The strike left commuters stranded, with many resorting to private cars, buses, taxis, motorcycles, and trucks.

Auwalu Sule, a businessman at Kantin Kwari, the city’s major textile market, told TheCable that some business owners did not open their shops as they could not make it to the market.

Jamilu Dakata, a private school teacher, also said “many of our pupils could not make it to school, especially those whose parents had no means of acquiring private mobility”.

Residents with no alternative means of transportation resorted to trekking some kilometres to their destinations.

Ali Yakubu, one of the residents, said he decided to trek from Dorayi quarters down to Kwari market after he waited for more than two hours without getting a commercial vehicle to transport him to the market.

“I had to trek to the market — about four kilometres — and I don’t think I will get a vehicle back to my house in the evening,” he said.

The Yusuf Maitama Sule University in the state also had to postpone its examination scheduled for Monday due to the strike.

Many students, including those of Bayero University Kano, also missed morning lectures as they found it difficult to get vehicles to take them to the school.

“It is a difficult day for us as we have just resumed a new session. So, we will be waiting here to see if we would be lucky to get a vehicle, maybe commercial or private,” one of the students said.

Reacting to the industrial action, Babba Danagundi, managing director of KAROTA, said “there is no going back on the renewal of yearly licence payment for tricycles”.

Meanwhile, the development comes months after tricycle operators in the state embarked on a three-day strike to protest the N100 daily tax imposed by the Kano government.

The strike, which was declared in February 2021, was called off after the involvement of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), after which the tricycle operators reached an agreement with KAROTA.