The Lagos State Government has declared total war on commercial motorcycle riders also known as okada riders plying the 475 prohibited routes in the Lagos metropolis.
Speaking at the 2012 Annual Council of Prophets Convention of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Surulere District, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, to sensitise members of the church on the new road traffic law, Fashola said police action was just to test-run how the raid on okada riders would be.
The governor added that by the time officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI and other security agencies joined in the enforcement, there would be no hiding place for okada riders.
Fashola, who was represented by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said total enforcement would soon begin, saying what was currently ongoing by the police was not full enforcement.
He stated that the thinking of the government was that by the end of this month, no okada rider should be seen on any of the prohibited routes, saying that government was more determined to enforce the ban.
According to Fashola, there were lots of jobs to do for okada riders that might lose their businesses, saying that many of them abandoned their vocational skills to make quick money through okada riding.
The governor told the gathering that the law was not meant to punish people but to sanitise and regulate the transportation system and by making people comply.
Fashola said the new law gave power to LASTMA to arrest anyone who flouted it as well as impose stipulated fines on erring members of the public.
He stated that the law recommend outright dismissal for LASTMA officials found to be corrupt in the course of performing their duties, as no one would be spared.
“Our plan is not to send people to jail but to make people comply,” he said, adding that beginning from January, commuter buses would only be allowed to ply the route routes they were registered to ply.
He vowed that any commercial bus caught plying routes they were not registered to ply would be impounded and the driver arrested and prosecuted.
The governor appealed to leaders of the church to educate their members to obey the traffic law, saying that they should preach it from the pulpit so that their members could obey the law.
“Talking in the church to members is one of the most effective ways to sensitise the people. The church should help us send the message to people to obey the traffic law. Let your driver go to the Lagos drivers institute to get certified,” he stated.
District Chairman and General Leader, Cherubim and Seraphim, Surulere District, Dr. Gabriel Fakeye, who was represented by the Deputy District Chairman, Senior Apostle J.A. Toriola, said the church would assist the state government in sensitizing members on the new traffic law and the need to obey the law.
Meanwhile, okada riders went on the rampage in various parts of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, today to protest the ban on them from plying 475 roads in the metropolis.
At Onipanu, on Ikorodu Road, the irate okada riders vandalised about 10 BRT buses during the violent protest against the Lagos State Government.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the okada riders stormed Onipanu area very early in the morning and vent their anger on BRT buses, destroying them.
Armed with sticks, iron roads and other dangerous weapons, the Okada riders hauled stones at BRT buses on Ikorodu road at Onipanu and Palmgrove bus stops.
There was pandemonium in the area and a team of policemen from the Rapid Response Squad, RRS was deployed to the area to quell the protest.
It was gathered that some arrests were made by the police but our reporter could not confirm the number of arrests.
Similarly, the riders also protested in Ikorodu and Ejigbo areas of the state this morning over the ban on them by government. In Ejigbo, the riders blocked the road, causing traffic jam in the area while they carried leaves and chanted anti-government songs.
They outrightly rejected the ban placed on them from plying 475 roads in Lagos, saying it would cripple their businesses.
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide confirmed the protest, saying that the police moved in on time to quell the protest.
She said she could not confirm if arrests were made as at the time of filing this report, but said everything was under control.
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Okada Fashola no de take nonscence ooh be carefull rememmber what he did to army staff who voilet the law
ReplyDeleteThese Okada men love to remain poor for life. Stop disgracing Nigeria. Cassava and other food crops earn more now than Okada. Go into farming or other better and respectable businesses than such dangerous and criminal catalyst business. I on my own believe that Okada work is for lazy and criminally minded people. I strongly believe that they can only discover the good plans of God for them if they obey the law or look for other alternative source of income. Fashola, ride on...
ReplyDelete@anonymous @9.48am. Thank you for your brilliant and intelligent comment. Please assist in explaining to other people in nigeria that okada is not solution to unemployment but Agriculture/farming, technical skill etc. Our reference countries of USA, UK, south Africa do not ve okada and their people are not poor. Crime came down in owerri, Enugu, Abuja when okada was banned!
ReplyDeleteBros Fashola, pls consider this people. Many of them could not get a job due to the hardship in the country and state. Provide more jobs and you will hardly see them on road.
ReplyDeleteYou can sit down in your office and make laws without considering the negative effects.
It is well with you all.
where are the projected lands and amenities, or is it not money you would use to purchase the land? where do you want them to get the money from? provide the land and money then you can stop them from riding bikes not just calling them names. They are not lazt as you have siad because, they also work to get the money they are spending rather than ur governmemt who spend the money they do not work for.
ReplyDeleteBanning Okada is a good thing but alternative plans should be made before the implemantation. don't compare naija with other countries abeg. those countries have good transport system which include rail,taxi etc.
ReplyDeleteBefore Okada riding you see these people cultivating high yield vegetables. The government provided large parcels of land (Ogun and Lagos States) that people rent and cultivate fast moving Ugu and other vegetables. They also produce pigs, etc. Capital required is less than the cost of one Okada. I know people at Agbara, Ogun state who are doing good business with these agricultural products. Okada kills and maimes more people on our roads more than any other form of transportation. Visit Igbobi hospital and witness horrors caused by Okada. I advocate not just a restriction but a total and forever ban of Okada in any part of this country.
ReplyDeleteIYALA MAN!!!
ReplyDeleteIF ACHABA (OKADA) BUSINESS CAN BE BANNED IN KANO, THEN I SEE NO REASON WHY LAGOS SHOULD DIFFER.
DO YOU KNOW THAT PART OF THE STRATEGY OF BH IS ATTACKING PEOPLE USING OKADA?????
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