3 feared dead as protest on Lagos ‘okada’ ban turns violent
…nobody died – police spokesman Pandemonium broke out yesterday in some parts of Lagos metropolis as commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders embarked on a protest to express their displeasure on the Lagos State government order restricting their operations to certain areas. Our correspondent observed that the protesters set used tyres on fire in the middle […]
- …nobody died – police spokesman
Pandemonium broke out yesterday in some parts of Lagos metropolis as commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders embarked on a protest to express their displeasure on the Lagos State government order restricting their operations to certain areas.
Our correspondent observed that the protesters set used tyres on fire in the middle of roads, forcing other road users to scamper to safety.
At Ijora 7UP and Ijora Olopa bus-stops, the rampaging riders took over major roads, preventing other road users access to them.
The protesters demanded immediate reversal of the ban.
Many commuters were seen stranded at bus stops or trekking long distances to their destinations as the ban bit hard.
While the riders at Ijora told our correspondent that they lost three of their members during the protest, which started at about 8am at the Ijora-Olopa area, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, maintained that nobody died.
Elkana, in a statement he issued yesterday afternoon, said the police arrested 24 ‘okada’ riders for their alleged involvement in the violent protest and blocking major roads in Ijora, causing obstructions.
Yesterday’s arrests brought to about 64 persons so far nabbed since the enforcement of the ban started on Saturday. Also, more than 200 motorcycles and 100 tricycles have been impounded.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, stated that at about 7.45am, the police received a distress call that some hoodlums in large numbers armed with cutlasses and suspected to be ‘okada’ riders and thugs blocked some major roads in the Ijora Oloye, Amusu, Ijora 7up, Ijora Under-bridge, Sifa junction and Gaskiya areas, all within the Ijora Badia Police Division.
Odumosu alleged that the hoodlums caused major obstructions on the roads, burning tyres, looting and stealing from road users.
According to him, police officers from Ijora Badia, Area B Command and Special Strike Force on Social Miscreants were promptly deployed to the scenes.
“The situation was brought under control. The obstructions were cleared for free flow of traffic. No life was lost. Investigation is ongoing and the suspects will be charged to court at the end of investigation,” he said.
Odumosu clarified that motorcycles being used for courier services were not included in the restrictions placed on motorcycles in the state, though he warned operators of courier services to strictly obey traffic laws.
He also advised dispatch riders to put on their crash helmets and fix their dispatch boxes at the back of their motorcycles.
The Treasurer of the Association of Commercial Motorcycle Operators in Ijora, Emeka Onu, lamented that since the ban started, operatives of the State Taskforce had seized hundreds of motorcycles from its members.
“Do they want us to go into robbery? Government cannot provide us with jobs and the only one open for us to feed our family has been outlawed. If they have the power to deny us air to breathe they would have done so’’, Onu said.
But the government yesterday rolled out 65 high capacity buses in addition to the existing buses as part of palliative measures following the restriction.
The Managing Director of Lagos Bus Services Limited, Idowu Oguntona, who announced this deployment at a press conference in Lagos, said that the 65 buses would be conveying a total of 35,000 commuters daily.
Oguntona said, “We recognize the fact that some of the buses cannot ply the feeder roads, so the plan is to inject 550 medium capacity buses that can carry about 30 people, and those mini buses will be deployed on the feeder roads, so there won’t be any significant impact.”