Ikeja GRA Residents Plan To Ban Okada

Commercial motorcycle riders, also known as okada riders, may soon be banned from operating in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

P.M.NEWS learnt that the plan by the Ikeja GRA Residents Association to ban okada riders operating in the area is not unconnected with the activities of armed robbers that attack people in the area at night.

Johnson Umoh, an okada rider at the Oduduwa Unit of motorcycle operators said that a meeting between riders and the residents was held recently at Protea Hotel along Isaac John Street in GRA Ikeja.

At the meeting, the Ikeja GRA Residents Association, led by Muiz Mumuni, lamented that there have been reported cases of okada riders dispossessing people of their cash, handsets and other valuable personal items at night in the area.

Some other okada riders said that the robbers operating on okada came from outside their units.

However, further checks revealed that though plans to ban okada in the area has reached an advanced stage, Ikeja GRA residents are contemplating buying Keke NAPEP (tricycle) for registered okada operators in the area.

Samuel Akpan, public relations officer of okada riders in Oduduwa unit confirmed the impending ban and said that his colleagues and the residents are still meeting on the issue.

—Emmanuel Udom