Borno tricycle riders bag 5-year jail term over planned anti-govt protest

Two commercial tricycle operators in Borno State have been sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly creating a WhatsApp group to mobilise protests against Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration.

The convicts, identified as Mohammed Bukar (alias Awana) and Ibrahim Mohammed (alias Babayo), both members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were arrested by crack police operatives in Maiduguri ahead of the planned “End Bad Governance” protest.

They were arraigned alongside five others in case number BOHC/MG/CR/2150/CT10/2024 before Hon. Justice A.M. Ali, who on June 30, 2025, convicted them of conspiracy and incitement under the Borno State Penal Code Laws, 2023.

According to court documents, the defendants were accused of forming a WhatsApp platform named Zanga Zanga—translated as “Protest Group”—to incite Keke Napep (tricycle) operators against the state government.

Prosecutors alleged they produced videos in Hausa and Kanuri languages urging riders to come out “en masse,” and one video reportedly declared, “Allah Yaisa Zulum two Billion Namu” (“May God punish Zulum for our two billion”).

Police investigator Sgt. Isa Abubakar testified that one of the videos was circulated as a WhatsApp status on July 21, 2024, prompting the arrest of the suspects two days later.

Justice Ali, in his ruling, imposed varied sentences on the defendants.

While Bukar, Ibrahim and another convict each received five years’ imprisonment, three teenage defendants—aged 14, 15, and 17—were given lighter punishments, including three months of community service cleaning hospital toilets, 20 strokes of the cane, and six months’ detention at remand homes or correctional centres.

The case has sparked criticism from some families of the convicts, who accused Governor Zulum of using state power to silence dissent.

Relatives said the riders were first detained for more than three months in police custody before being transferred to prison while awaiting trial.

At the centre of the controversy is a daily N100 ticket fee collected from tricycle riders, which the operators claimed was meant as an insurance scheme to support members in emergencies.

They alleged that the funds were mismanaged by state officials, leaving many without assistance—an issue they said motivated the planned protest.

Despite the convictions, rights advocates and relatives insist the case was politically motivated, describing the harsh sentences as an attempt to intimidate critics of the Zulum administration.