Opay Speaks On Police Closure Of Its Kano Office

OPay, a subsidiary of Opera Internet Group and promoter of OTrike, a tricycle service initiative on Friday reacted to the closure of its Kano office by police over noncompliance to the state government guidelines on business operations.
Solacebase recalled that Police on Thursday shut the company office in Kano metropolis over alleged noncompliance to the state government guidelines on business operations.
The company in a statement issued on Friday by its Director of Operations Ridwan Oladele said OPay has being in discussion with relevant Kano state government agencies since it commences operations.
The statement read: ”While engaging with relevant stakeholders within Kano State Government to introduce the platform upon launch, OTrike was invited by the Government to further clarify and educate the Government on its business model including topics on its pricing approach which is surprisingly very low, as well as accreditation and certification to operate its business.
It said,’’ upon concluding Government verification, the State is now confident in the platform. Partnership discussions have been opened with the platform in a bid to leverage OTrike’s solutions for regulating the Tricycle business in Kano. This has led to the Government requesting that the organization restructures its business to fully integrate with the State’s commerce laws as another round of Keke registration via Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA) begins soon. ‘’

The statement noted that the launch of OTrike, a tricycle hailing service that’s domiciled in the OPay app – owned by Opera Software, was met with positive reactions from Kano residents.
‘’The service launched in Kano city Mid-August offered prices for as low as NGN 30 per trip as part of its launch promotion,’’ said the statement.
According to the statement,’’ since the launch in Kano, OTrike has delivered several benefits including providing employment to over 150 Kano residents, paying well above the minimum wage. Direct investment in the state through its operations, to the tune of about NGN 100 million. Providing a safe and secure ecosystem for passengers commuting through Keke. Enabling the Keke Napep riders to make more through increased demand from passengers, thereby changing their lives.’’

It added that following the successful launch of ORide in Lagos, the bike hailing service expands to other cities including Ibadan, Ilorin, Abeokuta, Akure, Aba, Enugu, Kaduna, Asaba.