Group backs Sanwo-Olu, calls for total ban on Okada
A civil society organisation, Activists For Good Governance (AGG) has called for the total ban on Okada in Lagos State.
The group backed the recent restriction on Okada in six local governments by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
National Coordinator and spokesman of the group, Declan Ihekaire, while addressing a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday on the “Immediate Need for a Total Clampdown on Commercial Motorcycles (Okada) Operations,” in Lagos State, urged Lagos residents to join in demanding from the state government a total clampdown on motorcycles
Ihekaire said: “We have come together today to ask Lagosians to join us in demanding from the Lagos State government a total clampdown on motorcycles (Okada) as a means of transportation in every nook and cranny of the state.”
He stated that a collective action, which requires the input of all true Lagosians, is needed to eradicate the menace of Okada in the state.
He commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for taken the bold step in banning Okada operations in six local government council areas
Ihekaire said: “The Lagos governor has shown without any doubt that he is a dutiful servant of the people who is ever-ready to listen and carry out the people’s desires in line with his constitutional mandate.
“Lagosians have, on a daily basis, experienced several threats to lives and property, flagrant disobedience of the laws of the land, by the ‘army’ of undocumented commercial motorcycle operators, who have laid siege on Lagos State.
“The sense of insecurity convened by these dare-devil riders should not be allowed to continue.”
He lamented that artisans and able-bodied Nigerian youths have abandoned their trained jobs to become emergency Okada riders.
“Youths are no longer interested in vocational training to earn a decent and enduring living; rather, they have taken to riding Okada to make ‘quick’ money with the attendant risk to their lives.
“In the past couple of months, we have conducted independent surveys, which revealed that not only are majority of these motorcycle riders foreigners from countries, such as Republic of Chad, Niger Republic and other neighboring countries, we were also able to establish that they constitute a very potent risk to lives and properties of Lagosians. They must be stopped before it is too late.
“In the past few months, we have recorded cases of violent crimes and civil disturbances directly linked to the motorcycle operators, with some leading to the destruction of assets, loss of lives of innocent citizens and security agents
“It is worrisome and unfortunate that we, as a people, are responsible for the menace that Okada has become in the land today due to our complicity.
“We no longer walk so as to enjoy the health benefits that come with it. At the slightest opportunity, we jump on Okada to get to our destinations,” Ihekaire added.
He called on the governor to work towards the restoration of law and order in public transportation in order to ease the inconveniences that will likely arise, as a result of the ban.
He stated that the operations of the undocumented immigrants mostly operating the motorcycles have been banned in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Kano, Nassarawa, Delta, and Abia states, adding that the case of Lagos State should not be different.
