Lagos State government, on Thursday, extended the ban on the activities of commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, to four more Local Government Areas (LGAs) and six Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state, saying that the fresh ban becomes effective from September 1, 2022.
Effective from that date too, the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has directed enforcement teams to fully implement the proscription order and bust erring riders across the councils listed in the Okada ban.
It would be recalled that the government had earlier in May this year banned the operation of okada in six Local Governments (LGs) and nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), effective from June 1, 2022, following heightened crime rate and accidents, relating to this mode of transportation in the state.
Councils affected in the first phase were six LGAs, comprising Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Surulere, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Apapa, as well as LCDAs under them, bringing the total now to 25 councils of the 57 councils in which Okada activities had been proscribed.
The State Commissioner for Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladehinde, made this known at a press conference held at the Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, saying that the additional places are Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu and Mushin Local Government Areas, while the Development Area Councils are Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu, Isolo, Bariga, Odi-Olowo and Ejigbo.
Oladeinde, who spoke at the press conference which had in attendance his counterpart in Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, among others, said the extension of the proscription order was a move by the state government to sustain the gains recorded in the ongoing action against Okada operations in the state.
This was just as the commissioner said Okada accidents and fatalities had reduced by 63.7 per cent across the 15 local councils where the first phase of the ban had been enforced, stressing that the development also significantly brought down the rate of crimes associated with motorcycles.
According to him, this led to resolutions reached at a Stakeholders Forum, last Tuesday, with interest groups in which the participants unanimously urged the state government to make the Okada ban state-wide.
“The Ministry in conjunction with the inter-ministerial committee on Okada, having critically accessed these resolutions and the challenges of Okada operations on the security architecture of the state, recommended to Mr Governor not to go back on the already laid down phase ban in a bid to sustain the gains.
“Based on the apparent positive impact of the ban and the resolution of the Stakeholders’ Forum, Mr Governor has approved the ban of Okada in another four LGAs and their respective five LCDAs for the second phase of the total ban, in addition to the on-going ban in the six LGAs and their respective LCDAs,” he said.
“The state government advised residents to embrace alternative means of transportation for their journey, noting that the state had provided safe and sustainable First- and Last-Mile Transport Scheme, BRT Scheme, e-hailing taxi Scheme and other acceptable means for the safety of commuters,” he added.
The commissioner disclosed that 7,500 motorcycles had been impounded and crushed in the ongoing enforcement, saying resistance had dropped sharply, even as he strongly warned riders who may want to flout the proscription order to desist as, according to him, “the enforcement would not be sparing.”
Oladeinde said the state government had interventions in place to empower the affected Okada riders as an alternative means of livelihood, urging them to embrace the intervention programmes which were being coordinated by six government ministries and also the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).
“It is important to reiterate the state government’s commitment to the safety, security of lives and properties in the state. In exercising this, any motorcycle impounded will be crushed and the process will be made public.
“Both riders and passengers arrested on proscribed routes will be made to face the full wrath of the law in line with the provision of Section 46, sub-section 1, 2 & 3 of the Transport Sector Reform Law (TSRL), 2018,” he warned.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Omotoso, observed that last Tuesday’s meeting with stakeholders reviewed the enforcement action taken since the total ban, pointing out that the feedback from the public informed further measures to curtail the activities of the commercial motorcycles.
He said Okada riding remained alien to the State’s integrated transportation master plan.
The ban enforcement will be supervised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation.
