Agency report
Lagos State Government on Friday began the crushing of impounded commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, at the Task Force’s Crushing Centre, Ikeja.
About 2,000 motorcycles have already been impounded in the last 72 hours since commencement of the total ban
Lagos State government had vowed that all the motorcycles will be crushed.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said the idea is to prevent the Okada from finding their way back into the streets.
Oladeinde, who supervised the crushing exercise, commended the security operatives for doing a great job in enforcing the total ban across all the affected 15 local councils.
He said the crushing is to demonstrate the government’s commitment to ridding the State of Okada menace.
He said Friday’s exercise brings to about 7,000 the total number of okada already crushed by the government in the last five months.
He disclosed that about 5,000 had earlier been crushed in the First Quarter of 2022.
Oladeinde urged Lagosians to stop patronising Okada and to use the alternative First and Last Mile Buses provided by the government.
Responding to complaints coming from places like Apapa where the people are finding it tough because Okada operation had been banned, the commissioner said the people should show more understanding as the directive was in the interest of all citizens of the State.
Also speaking, Shola Jejeloye, the Chairman, Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit (Taskforce), said there is 85 per cent compliance with the commercial motorcycle ban in the last three days.
Jejeloye said this on Friday in Ikeja, while speaking with newsmen, during the crushing of the commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, which was confiscated during enforcement.
He said that the enforcement of the ban would continue, so as to ensure the sanity of the environment.
According to him, the enforcement of the ban did just begin on Wednesday, June 1, but has been in force since Feb. 1, 2020.
”Since then, we have been on it. It is just that people believe in violating the law, which I don’t think is good enough in a cosmopolitan city like this. But since June 1, there have been more than 85 per cent compliance.
“85 per cent compliance in the sense that we don’t see Okada on the roads, on the expressways any longer, the number has drastically reduced.
