The Lagos State Government will on Wednesday (today) commence the enforcement of its ban on commercial motorcycles, also known as Okada, in about six local governments.
The local governments include Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had announced the ban on May 18 during a meeting with police chiefs in the state, saying it is ‘total and indefinite’.
‘After a critical review of our restriction on Okada activities in the first six local government areas where we restricted them on February 1, 2020, we have seen that the menace has not abated,” Sanwo-Olu said at the time.
‘We are now directing a total ban on Okada activities across the highways and bridges within these six local government and their local council development areas, effective from June 1, 2022.’
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The government believes that the activities of Okada as dangerous to road users.
The state’s Police Commissioner Abiodun Alabi, has described most Okada riders as criminals who must be taken off the road.
In January 2020, the government had proscribed the operations of okada and kekes.
But enforcement became lax due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso.
Omotosho, during an interview also noted that recent increases in accident rates have prompted the government to act again.
‘Our doctors are complaining that more persons are coming in with okada emergency,’ he said.
‘About 45 percent of accidents in the first quarter were caused by okada. And most of the victims are between the ages of 30 to 39.’
Police Commissioner Alabi has vowed that enforcement of the ban this time will be more thorough.
But the police chief has also acknowledged that banning Okadas may have its side effects.
On Tuesday, the police organised a show of force as a warning against a breakdown of law and order.