There was mild pandemonium as some Motorcycle (Okada) riders and the Lagos State Task Force were involved in a clash at the Idi Araba area of Lagos due to the recent ban and shutdown of activities involving Okada riders in the State.
The Lagos government banned motorcycle operations in some locations since June 1, 2022.
The affected Local Government Areas are Apapa, Eti Osa, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Surulere and Lagos Mainland.
The authorities already seized thousands of bikes which are now routinely crushed publicly.
Reacting to today’s face-off, Lagos Police Command has assured residents of safety.
Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin denied reports that the riders fought security personnel.
“The Taskforce went well prepared. They (riders) were just causing a scene after Taskforce left with some of their impounded motorcycles.”
Hundeyin said the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and men from the Area Command have been drafted to the scene.
The spokesman added that there’s “absolutely nothing to worry about”.
In another report, the Coalition of Northern Groups has warned against the ongoing seizure and destruction of Okada motorcycles directed by the Lagos State Government, saying the action targets northern operators and therefore was “completely unacceptable”.
The CNG in a statement by its Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, noted that it was “rash, irrational, insensitive and wicked” that the Lagos State Government would in just 72 hours of announcing the ban, seize and subject 7,548 bikes, mostly owned and operated by northerners to the crusher.
Suleiman said, “We note that of recent, State governments in the South have resorted to imposing and enforcing controversial, unfriendly and damaging legislation that effectively curtail the right to freedom of movement of the northern people living in their midst.
“More disturbing is that like in the current case of Lagos, the enforcers of these discriminatory laws almost all the time fail to draw the decent distinction between the northerner as citizen, or commercial motorcycling as an occupation, from criminality.
“To the makers of these laws and their formal and informal enforcers, it matters little that just because some Okada riders commit certain breaches does not make all motorcyclists criminals.
“In fact, they are enforcing the laws without taking into consideration that the vast majority of northerners in Lagos – including those who are Okada operators – are peaceful everyday people with the same needs, anxieties and hopes as the rest of Nigerians.”