Aggrieved riders of motorcycles popularly called Okada
plying Magodo area of Lagos State took to the Ojodu Berger road on Monday
to engage some officers of the Lagos State Traffic and Management Authority in
a fight after a raid by a combined team of policemen and LASTMA officers.
Our correspondent gathered that an Okada rider,
said to be plying one of the restricted routes, was chased by the patrol teams.
An eyewitness said when they left after chasing
other Okada riders away, others went on the rampage threatening to
attack any LASTMA man in sight.
When our correspondent arrived at the scene of
the incident, some of the protesting Okada riders were seen blocking
the Roundabout at the end of the road with a traffic box.
They also beat two officers of the LASTMA
controlling traffic on the road before they were rescued by passers-by and
members of the Ojodu-Berger chapter of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers.
Some of the motorcycle riders said they were not
operating on any of the restricted routes in the state and could not understand
why the police had continued to molest them.
The incident caused a gridlock before members of
the Ojodu-Berger chapter of the NURTW mobilised themselves to control the
traffic.
Chairman of the Ojodu-Berger Park of the NURTW,
Mr. Tokunbo Seriki said the police were on a “sanitising” exercise across motor
parks in the area.
He said it was after they finished checking the
park that they decided to move to the Okada Park.
Seriki said, ‘‘I was told that a fight was about
to break between the LASTMA officers and the Okada riders, so I quickly moved
in with my officers. This axis is known for peace and we will not
compromise the peace for anything. We will control the traffic till we are sure
the officers are safe.”
No comments:
Post a Comment