PARENT body of commercial motorcycle operators (aka
Okada riders), the All Nigerians Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers
Association (ANACOWA), on Friday rejected the claim that the use of motorcycles
was responsible for high rate of accidents and criminal activities in Lagos
State.
The Okada riders, made this known through their counsel, Mr Bamidele Aturu, before Justice Aishat Opesanwo of a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
ANACOWA had filed a suit before the court challenging their restriction from plying 475 roads in the state.
Defendants in the suit are the Lagos State government, the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Lagos State.
During hearing of the suit on Friday, Aturu said the claim that the operations of his clients was restricted out of security concerns was frivolous.
Aturu said: "More heinous and daring crimes are committed with flashy and expensive vehicles such as Prado jeeps, Toyota Sienna and Honda.
"Yet the defendants have not restricted the use of such vehicles because armed robbers use them to rob and escape."
He also faulted the claim that the use of motorcycles was responsible for the spate of accidents recorded in the state, adding that there was no evidence to back such claim. He said, bad and deliberately neglected roads by government should be blamed.
"The extremely bad roads within Lagos State and unworthy vehicles are mainly responsible for deaths of people through accidents on the roads," Aturu argued.
He also faulted the restriction placed on the operations of his clients on Federal Trunk Roads and highways, saying that all the major highways listed in Schedule II of the Lagos State Traffic Law 2012 were constructed and being maintained by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to him, Section 4 (2) of the 1999 Constitution expressly prohibited the defendants from making a traffic law or enforcing it on a Federal Road.
"What the defendants cannot do, is to enforce their own traffic law on roads that do not belong to them; they do not construct or maintain," Aturu said.
The judge, after hearing the submission, reserved a date for judgment.
The Okada riders, made this known through their counsel, Mr Bamidele Aturu, before Justice Aishat Opesanwo of a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
ANACOWA had filed a suit before the court challenging their restriction from plying 475 roads in the state.
Defendants in the suit are the Lagos State government, the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Lagos State.
During hearing of the suit on Friday, Aturu said the claim that the operations of his clients was restricted out of security concerns was frivolous.
Aturu said: "More heinous and daring crimes are committed with flashy and expensive vehicles such as Prado jeeps, Toyota Sienna and Honda.
"Yet the defendants have not restricted the use of such vehicles because armed robbers use them to rob and escape."
He also faulted the claim that the use of motorcycles was responsible for the spate of accidents recorded in the state, adding that there was no evidence to back such claim. He said, bad and deliberately neglected roads by government should be blamed.
"The extremely bad roads within Lagos State and unworthy vehicles are mainly responsible for deaths of people through accidents on the roads," Aturu argued.
He also faulted the restriction placed on the operations of his clients on Federal Trunk Roads and highways, saying that all the major highways listed in Schedule II of the Lagos State Traffic Law 2012 were constructed and being maintained by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to him, Section 4 (2) of the 1999 Constitution expressly prohibited the defendants from making a traffic law or enforcing it on a Federal Road.
"What the defendants cannot do, is to enforce their own traffic law on roads that do not belong to them; they do not construct or maintain," Aturu said.
The judge, after hearing the submission, reserved a date for judgment.
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