Okada ban: Lagos to intensify crushing of seized motorcycles

• Crushes 11, 820 motorcycles in 11 months
• Says instability in neighbouring African countries causing influx
• Govt not serious about ban, says security expert

Amid security reports that some of those parading as commercial motorcyclists are indeed hoodlums and bandits,  who have invaded Lagos, the  State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, the  Task Force, said it will intensify the crushing of seized motorcycles.

According to the Task Force, this will send a signal that the agency is poised to enforce the ban on activities of commercial motorcyclists in six Local Councils of the state as announced by Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu.

Chairman of the Task Force, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Shola Jejeloye, who revealed this, told The Guardian that despite arrests, the number of Okada riders have increased in the state.

“For instance, if we arrest 50 today, you will see more than 150 motorcycles on the same spot when we return after two weeks. The agency is working, but these guys seem to have more money to buy new ones.

On why the exercise remains the best option, the agency’s Director, Press and Public Affairs, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem said crushing of impounded motorcycles will continue,  until the state completely gets rid of Okada on prohibited routes. “Crushing remains the best option because we don’t want them to go back to Lagos highways and streets, it is a continuous exercise.

According to him, the agency crushed a total of 11,820 motorcycles between January and November last year.
He stressed that though, they are yet to crush this year, they are committed to sanitising the state.

Abduraheem, however, blamed the spike on motorcyclists in the state on crises from neighbouring countries.

He promised that the presence of commercial motorcyclists is a matter of time and that it will be a thing of the past in no distant time.

“When you look at Africa as a whole, especially the West African sub-region, you hardly see any country not plagued by unrest, so, they have found a comfort zone, which is Lagos. People migrate from the northern and eastern parts of the country to Lagos; some of these northern states have banned Okada so, there is no other place to go than Lagos.

“As we crushed, we experienced an influx of more, even from other countries like Ghana, Togo, Mali, Chad and Benin Republic. Their belief is that once they get to Lagos, they will see someone to buy a motorcycle for them and they can make N5, 000 per day.  N5, 000 is a big money in their countries, by the time they convert our money to their currency, they will become millionaires within six months.

“You can imagine that Kano banned Okada and the whole Okada riders in that state came to Lagos, but I believe one day will be one day, because there is no day we will not impound over 500 motorcycles, yet we still see them in large numbers on the road.

“These guys know every nook and cranny of Lagos,  so it has a serious security implication; a total ban is the best for us.”

Supporting,  Lagos State Arewa Community (LASACOOM), said most crimes perpetrated by commercial motorcyclists in  the state  are carried out by foreigners from neighbouring countries, such as Niger Republic,  Chad  and Cameroon.
The community said this in a communique it issued at the end of its extraordinary meeting on Sunday.

The Community met to deliberate on the ban of the operations of commercial motorcycles by the Lagos State Government in six Local Government Areas.

The communique signed by the Secretary General of LASACOMM, Alhaji Musa Saleh, read: “The restriction of Commercial Motorcycle (Okada) operators in some Local Governments in Lagos State is not a new law. It has been in existence for over ten years.

“We resolved today unanimously that all our members must comply with the provisions of the laws of Lagos State. We are law abiding and we will always continue to intimate all our members to continue to be law abiding and operate only within the ambit of the law.

“We support all measures taken by the Lagos State Government in its efforts towards protecting life and property of all Lagosians.

“We condemn in totality the activities of all criminal elements who are mostly foreigners from Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon and other Neighbouring countries who have infiltrated the ranks of those genuine riders and thereby perpetrating all forms of crime in Lagos State and are constituting serious threats to the life and property of Lagosians.

“We are calling on the Security Agencies to identify and arrest all those criminal elements masquerading as Okada riders.

“We also task the Nigeria Immigration Service to step up its actions along the border line in checking the influx of those foreign elements coming into the Country without genuine intention.”

MEANWHILE, a security expert and Chief Executive, Safety and Security Watch, Chinyere Amaechi, said the only way to end Okada menace in Lagos is to create jobs for the people.

According to her, when you stop them from riding bikes, what alternative jobs do you have for them?
“There is a big risk involved in riding on the highway, competing with big vehicles on the roads, and they are risking their lives. If they have an alternative, a better option, most of them will not like to be on the road.

“So, for the government to remove them, and remove them effectively, they must have a means for them to fall back on.

“When Babatunde Fashola was the governor, he created few jobs and engaged them and some of them left the road. So, you cannot tell them to drop their bikes and have no plan for them. So, government should create jobs, that is the only way out,” she added.

On why previous ban on motorcycles was not effective, she said:  “When the government pronounces, how effective is the implementation?

They seize a lot of motorcycles every day, at the end of the day, where are the seized motorcycles?   Do they crush all of them or do they return them to those who have someone to call to get them released?

“I know that when the Lagos State Government wants to do a thing, they do it to the letter. If they mean to really phase out motorcycles and get them off the roads, they will succeed in doing so, but there are shortcomings and that is why we are getting what we are getting now.”