‘We’re stranded, treated like outcasts’ – Three keke riders cry out after riding from Lagos to Abuja for Tinubu

Three tricycle riders who rode from Lagos to Abuja to show support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have cried out for financial assistance from Nigerians.

The men who addressed journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, lamented that they were left stranded after they were prevented from seeing the President.

According to the tricycle riders, who rode off from Lagos on July 3 and arrived in Abuja on July 4, 2023, after spending 17 hours on the road, they were also hoping to inform Tinubu that tricycle engines could be assembled locally.

Chairman of Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Ajah branch, Onanuga Babatunde, lamented how they had spent 10 days in Abuja without seeing the President or any of his aides.

He said they were stranded and could not return to Lagos after spending over N100,000 to fuel their two tricycles. Onanuga added that they were being treated like outcasts at the APC National Secretariat.

“I am the one that drove a tricycle from Lagos to Abuja to show solidarity with the President. We are three in number – Comrade Ahmed Bolaji and Comrade Akintade Temitope.

“We started the journey on Monday, July 3rd and we got to Abuja on July 4th. We are here to show solidarity with the President. When we were coming, we had challenges on the road but we thank God, we overcame them.

“Since we arrived, we have been stranded. We have spent 10 days in Abuja. We have spent all our money on fuel and we don’t have anything with us. We have been paying for hotel accommodation since we came to Abuja.”

The TOAN chairman, however, described President Tinubu as a “very kind-hearted father who would use his good office to ensure that tricycles are assembled or manufactured in Nigeria as one of his legacies”.