The Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday began
complete enforcement on the ban of commercial motorcycles otherwise known as okada
in some parts of the state.
Chairman of the state Task Force on Environmental
and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, Mr. Bayo Suleiman, had said during the
crushing of 3,000 motorcycles last week that the task force had not started
enforcing the law fully.
It was however learnt that during a meeting with
all Divisional Police Officers in the state on Monday, the Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Umar Manko, ordered that all stations should begin enforcing the
new traffic law, especially the aspect on okada riders.
The state government had on August 2, 2012,
signed into law, the restriction of okada on 475 roads, specifically, bridges,
expressways and double-carriage roads.
PUNCH Metro learnt that hundreds of
motorcycles were seized in Ogba, Agege, Ikeja, Ojokoro, Ajasa Command, Ojota,
Oshodi among other areas. Some of the riders were also arrested.
A man who claimed to be an okada rider
but declined to give his name sent a text message to PUNCH Metro that
over 100 okadas were seized by policemen from Ojokoro Police Division.
A DPO, who spoke to our correspondent on the
condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that the rise in crime made the
police authorities to begin the clamp down on okada riders.
An okada rider, Johnson Alabi, accused
the police of using violence to seize motorcycles, warning that someone could
get killed in the process.
He said, “Around 12pm, I went to drop a passenger
around Ijaiye when policemen accosted me. I immediately jumped off my bike and
fled. However, some other riders were not as lucky as the policemen hit them
with the butts of their guns before seizing their motorcycles.
“I was not riding on a restricted road but I
don’t know why the policemen, attached to Ojokoro Division acted in that
manner.”
Another rider, Babatunde Olajide, said the
policemen manhandled some of the riders before seizing their bikes in Ojokoro
area.
The Punch
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