Mogadishu three-wheeled motorcycle-pulling trailer Drivers, protest over Intense Police restrictions

Hundreds of Drivers of the three-wheeled motorcycle pulling trailer have protested in Mogadishu on Sunday over intense police checks at roadblocks manned by Somali Security Forces.

The protesters said the Somali Police Force has denied them access to certain parts of the capital since Saturday. 

According Security Sources close to Dalsan TV the cause of the twin explosions at Zobe junction Mogadishu last Saturday was caused by  a “suicide vehicle-borne IED and a3-wheeled motorcycle pulling a small trailer of explosives. 

It is believed that a three-wheeled motorcycle-pulling trailer was parked and detonated when first responders and security officers arrived at the scene of the first explosion. 

The successive Al-Shabaab blasts killed more than 128 people and injured over 300 people, all civilians who lost their lives in the attack targeting the ministry of education in the busy area.

The protesters said their freedom of movement has been limited and have decried Police harassment even as they try to secure the city. 

Although the Somali Government and the Banadir regional Administration have not issued an official communique on the matter, the restriction is already affecting hundreds in Mogadishu. 

Furious demonstrating drivers of the three-wheeled motorcycles who closed a busy road in the capital, said they are frustrated by the decision of the Police.

They said by limiting their movement within Mogadishu, their families will go hungry in the midst of a hard economy coupled by local and international factors. 

“Our grievances are against the Somali Government. This message should reach the President and the Prime Minister and the local Council.”

“We have nowhere to pass, we have been denied access.”

“We want the Government to allow us to operate so we can provide for our families,” said an agitated driver. 

The last few years, motorized rickshaws have virtually monopolized public conveyance in the city because of their mobility and the fact Mogadishu’s major roads have been closed by government soldiers to prevent al-Shabab car bombs.

Over the last three years, security forces have killed more than 20 tuktuk drivers in Mogadishu.