The Lagos State Police Command has said commercial motorcycle riders popularly called okada plying restricted routes in the state should be ready for a tough time beginning from this week.
It stated that with the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum issued to the commercial bike riders by the state government, it would commence strict enforcement of the ban on their activities in some routes in the state.
The state police spokesperson, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, said the police did not at anytime relax the enforcement of the law.
He noted that the restriction of the motorcycle riders to certain routes was for the safety of the riders and their passengers.
Nwosu said, ‘‘We have always carried out enforcement on the restriction. There was no time we relaxed it. We are only going to increase the enforcement barring them from plying restricted routes by this week.’’
Our correspondent, who was at Ifako-Ijaiye, Ojokoro, Ojodu, Mushin and Iyana Ipaja on Saturday, observed that commercial motorcycle riders ply the routes unhindered.
Also, they were seen conveying passengers along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Agege Motor Road, Lagos-Ikorodu Road and Isolo-Ikotun Road.
In 2012, the state traffic law among other things, barred okada riders from operating on 475 roads in the state including highways and bridges.
The state government on June 25 met with the unions of the commercial bike riders and issued a 21-day ultimatum to them to leave restricted routes.
The Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Tunji Bello, who chaired the meeting, said the government decided to give the riders the ultimatum for the unions to sensitise their members to vacate the restricted routes before the start of enforcement.
He said. “We have held a meeting with the okada unions on what should be done. We had a meeting with security agencies before now on the resurgence of okada riders on the highways. They said they thought that the government had relaxed the law; there is no relaxation. We have decided to give them three weeks for enlightenment because we are not doing anything new; what we are doing is to re-enforce the law.”
Bello added that the enforcement was relaxed during the last general elections to avoid political parties capitalising on it for cheap political gains.
The 21-day ultimatum ended on Thursday.
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