Lagos State on Monday said it was considering an outright ban of motorcycles, popularly called Okada, in Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island axis as their operations continue to pose security challenges to law enforcement agencies in the state.
The state is also to crush about 4,000 motorcycles in line with the state’s traffic law. The Lagos Traffic Law 2012 prohibits the operations of Okada and tricycles also known as Keke Marwa from operating in certain routes across the state, except those with 50cc engine capacities.
The 4,000 are those recently impounded by law enforcement officers in their renewed efforts to contend with the illegal operation of Okada within the state metropolis.
Fatai Owoseni, Lagos State commissioner for police, who disclosed this to journalists at Ojota, said the recent clampdown on Okada was to address the security concerns posed by their operations, as criminals use them to perpetrate crime and get away.
According to Owoseni, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has directed that the Police and other security agencies concerned redouble efforts to ensure the law is complied with, assuring that the clampdown will be sustained vigorously on a daily basis.
“It would not be one off. So far, we have impounded about 500 motorcycles since we started our renewed efforts and we now have a total of about 4, 000 bikes ready to be crushed. The law made provisions on how those motorcycles should be handled and the law also made provision on how to handle those that have flouted the law itself,” Owoseni said.
According to Owoseni, the decision to crush and recycle the impounded motorcycles was in accordance with the provision of the law. Aside impounding the motorcycles and tricycles, the enforcement would also clampdown on the operators and residents who patronise them, he said, adding that mobile courts would be instituted to try arrested offenders.
“The operators of the commercial motorcycles and those patronizing them, with time, you will get to see the Mobile Court going around to try some of those that have been arrested. What we are saying here is that we want people in Lagos to know that there is a law and the law is made for a purpose and if all of us obey the law and conform, the better for us.”
“The Okada riders, no doubt, have been a sort of menace. They go into the road and flout the laws with impunity. When they get to where you have the traffic lights, they behave as if it is not meant for them and combine with that is the way the criminal elements put the motorcycles to either snatch money or use them as a getaway in some areas and the same law says that citizens should not patronize commercial motorcycles on prohibited routes.
“Not only that, the law says that by 8pm, they should not be on the road and so the message we are passing is that this is not going to be a one-off thing, we will continue and sustain it. We just like to appeal to people to stop patronizing Okada plying restricted routes,” Owoseni said.
Olanrewaju Elegushi, acting commissioner for transportation, said the current administration had previously warned commercial motorcycles to steer clear of restricted routes, as the clampdown on defaulters would be total.
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