June 1 deadline won’t stop enforcement, Lagos vows

The seizure of commercial motorcycles by the Lagos State Task Force will continue, despite the June 1 deadline issued by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for them to leave six council areas. The six are: Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Apapa and Surulere.

In a statement, yesterday, by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, the deadline does not invalidate the provisions of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018, which states that “no persons shall ride, drive or propel a motorcycle or tricycle on a major highway within the state, and any person in contravention of this provision commits an offence” and will be made to face the wrath of the law.

“The Lagos State Task Force, led by CSP Shola Jejeloye, has continued to enforce the law. It seized 238 motorcycles in Lekki on Tuesday and Wednesday. In Iba on Lagos-Badagry Expressway, where it was violently resisted on Thursday, the task force seized 195 motorcycles. The riders were operating on highways and bridges in flagrant disobedience of the law because, according to them, they are free to ply unauthorised routes till June 1. This is wrong. The February 1, 2020 directive has not been reversed. The enforcement was weakened by COVID-19. Now, the action is being reinforced.

“The government praises Lagosians who have come out to support the ban on commercial motorcycles in the six local government areas, which Governor Sanwo-Olu has described as the “first phase” of the action triggered by safety and security concerns.”