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The Lagos State government is to crush 4000 impounded motorcycles to deter commercial motorcylists from plying Lagos roads and improve security

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Mar 13, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT  |

FOLLOWING the return of commercial motorcycles fondly called okada on Lagos restricted roads, the state government has concluded plans to crush and recycle more than 4,000 impounded okada, in line with the provisions of the state Traffic Law 2012. Fatai Owoseni, commissioner of police in the state, said the recent clampdown on okada across the state was a fall out of the government’s resolve to address the security concerns posed by their operations.

According to Owoseni, criminals in the state are in the habit of using okada to perpetrate crime and get away with it. He said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of the Lagos State had directed that the police and other security agencies concerned to redouble efforts to ensure the law is complied with, assuring that the clampdown will be sustained vigorously on a daily basis.

“It would not be one off. So far, we have impounded about 500 motorcycles since we started our renewed efforts and we now have a total of about 4,000 bikes ready to be crushed. The law made provisions on how those motorcycles should be handled and the law also made provision on how to handle those that have flouted the law itself.”

Owoseni said the decision to crush and recycle the impounded motorcycles was in accordance with the provisions of the law. He said aside impounding the motorcycles and tricycles, the enforcement would also clampdown on the operators and residents who patronise them, adding that mobile courts would be instituted to try arrested offenders.

The return of okada to major expressways of Lagos State where they were barred from plying in 2012 has increased the crime rate associated with okada. This includes phone and bag snatching, as well as, armed robbery attacks. Realnews observed that the hoodlums operate in the early hours of the day when they torment those that venture out early for their businesses, and those returning home from night engagements, including work.

Realnews investigations showed that these bandits, who always carry out discreet survey of the stretch of the road before they strike, are more often than not, armed. The rider and his accomplice, apart from being armed with guns, and other dangerous weapons, also carry sharp scissors with which they briskly cut off the straps of their victims’ bags, and zoom off even before an alarm is raised.

It should be recalled that the state government had in August 2012, signed the Lagos State Traffic Act into law. The objective of the legislation was to provide for road traffic administration. It also seeks, among others, to restore sanity in the state transportation system and its restriction on the activities of commercial motorcyclists remains controversial.

The okada riders were restricted from operating on 406 out of 10,000 roads in the state, including all bridges. According to schedule (1) section (2) of Traffic Offences and Penalties, riding a motorcycle against traffic and riding on the kerb, median or road setbacks for a first time offender would attract N20,000.

Riding a motorcycle without crash helmet for rider and passenger would attract N20,000 or three years jail term. The law also prohibited under aged persons under 18 years from riding a motorcycle, stipulating a fine of N20,000. for offenders.

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