Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has asked all street traders and artisans to vacate streets in Port Harcourt, the state capital within the next one week.
The governor issued the warning at Government House Port Harcourt on Wednesday while launching “Operation Leave the Road,” a programme designed to rid Port Harcourt streets of traders, vulcanisers, roadside mechanics, artisans, street vendors and other categories of people that operate their businesses in the streets of Port Harcourt.
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, Wike declared that those that fail to leave the streets would be arrested and prosecuted. It said street traders and artisans have constituted a nuisance that the government could no longer overlook.
The statement said that all damaged and abandoned vehicles should be taken out of the street within the one week of grace otherwise they would be impounded and their owners prosecuted.
It said a Task Force will soon be inaugurated to implement the new directive and ensure the maintenance of order on the roads.
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