14th January, 2024
No fewer than 344 commercial motorcycles (a.k.a okada) were impounded by the Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Task Force) in seven days in different parts of the state.
The Public Relations Officer of the unit, Mr Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, disclosed this on Sunday in a statement.
Abdulraheem said the seizures were made during the raid carried out in Abule-Ado area with 174 motorcycles seized, Lagos Island 50 motorcycles, Berger/Grammar School 50 motorcycles and 70 others from Abule-Egba axis.
The spokesperson said the unit had warned men in uniform, like soldiers and policemen, against disobedience to traffic law, urging them to obey the extant rules and regulation of the State or be prosecuted.
He said that Taskforce had vowed to bring the operations of recalcitrant motorcyclists in the state to a complete halt as it carries out the week-long raid across various parts of the Metropolis.
According to him, the agency’s chairman, CSP Shola Jejeloye, has vowed to cripple the activities of Commercial motorcyclists playing along some highways in the state.
“We have taken it upon ourselves to end okada operations in the state and we are putting all mechanisms in place to ensure we achieve this goal.
“There is a ban on their activities along selected routes and Local Government Areas in Lagos, therefore, they should not be allowed to operate as they please.
“There will be no sacred cows in the enforcement of okada operations in the State, therefore, any man in uniform caught conveying passengers on a bike for commercial purposes will be thoroughly dealt with.
“We should be the ones setting the right examples not breaking them. It will no longer be business as usual,” he quoted the chairman as saying.
(NAN)