No fewer than 16 commercial motorcycles, also known as Okada, alongside their passengers, were arrested, yesterday, by policemen, during the enforcement of the ban on their operations in six local government areas, by the Lagos State Government.
The Police also impounded 140 motorcycles, while 94 of them were seized in communities around Ajah, Ikeja and its environs.
This came, as the Lagos State government has appealed to Lagosians to use alternative modes of transportation in the state, disclosing that out of the 1,712 accidents recorded in the first quarter of year 2022, 767 involved Okada.
Meanwhile, one of the motorcycle unions, Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria, MTUN, has dragged the Lagos State government before a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, praying the court to declare the ban as illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.
Surprisingly, some of the major roads, such as Cele bus stop, Apple Junction and Mile 2 Oke, all on the Oshodi Apapa expressway, where riders used to cluster, witnessed free flow of traffic.
At 10 am., no Okada operator was sighted in the Lekki and Ajah axis, including inner roads like Ado/Badore, in Ajah, to Ikota complex/VGC, among others.
This forced commuters to trek long distances before boarding commercial buses to their respective destinations. Later in the day, tricycle operators were sighted plying some of the inner routes to convey commuters to bus stops.
