For years, the Lagos State Government has engaged in a running battle with operators of commercial motorcycles known as okada over persistent disregard for road safety rules and route restrictions. Despite regular raids and seizures of the bikes for route violations, the okada riders remain defiant. This must stop.
In August, the task force team seized 668 bikes and arrested seven suspects during a routine week-long enforcement for compliance operations led by its chairman, Adetayo Akerele.
The operation targeted Ishaga, Balogun Bus Stop on Iju-Ishaga Road, Ijegun Roundabout, Iyana-Iba, Iyana-Ishasi, Igbo-Elerin, and Iyana-School.
The team also raided Volkswagen Bus Stop on the stretch of Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Kola Bus Stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, and other restricted routes.
According to Akerele, these areas had been flagged following numerous complaints and distress calls indicating the persistent use of commercial motorcycles by suspected criminals to attack innocent people, tricycle operators, and their passengers, robbing them of valuables, particularly at night.
Apart from robberies, okada riders are notorious for disregarding traffic rules, often riding against traffic even on highways and ignoring traffic lights, sometimes resulting in avoidable accidents.
This underlines the need to enforce a statewide ban on okada to prevent further abuse.
The defiance has spread to operators of tricycles popularly known as Keke Marwa or Keke NAPEP.
This puts the lives of Lagosians at risk and constitutes a serious threat to public safety and order.
The clampdown began in 2006 when the government banned okada operations between 7 pm and 6 am
In 2012, Governor Babatunde Fashola introduced the Lagos State Road Traffic Law. It prohibits okadas and tricycles on certain routes and restricts motorcycles with engine capacities below 200cc from major expressways. The law mandates a minimum 200cc engine for motorcycles for mail or courier services.
The state government reiterated the ban in 2015 but was largely unsuccessful. By 2017, the government added major highways and bridges to the list of restricted areas. It established the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, which came into effect in February 2018.
Section 46 (1) of the law stipulates that “no person shall ride, drive or propel a motorcycle or tricycle on a major highway within the state, and any person in contravention of this provision commits an offence liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of three years with such motorcycle or tricycle forfeited to the State.”
The state government barred these transport operators from six local governments, nine LCDAs, 10 major highways, 40 bridges and flyovers with effect from February 1, 2020. Ride-hailing bikes were also added to the list when they became a nuisance.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has restated the ban from time to time, with regular enforcement raids by the state’s task force on environmental sanitation and special offences, as well as the Nigeria Police Force.
Though the operations of these bikes and tricycles greatly aid transportation in the bustling metropolis, there is an overarching imperative for their activities to be strictly regulated and extended all over the state. The requirement that riders and their passengers use helmets has been largely ignored.
Between 2016 and 2019, Lagos State recorded over 10,000 accidents involving okadas and tricycles, resulting in more than 600 deaths. The National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, in Lagos, also set up an “okada ward” to handle cases arising from bike crashes.
The state government must provide more buses and other public transportation options to cater to the needs of commuters affected by such a ban and reintegrate the riders into alternatives.
There should be collaboration with the private sector to overhaul the transportation system and implement new data-driven decisions after due consultation with the public and other stakeholders.
Most importantly, the safety of lives and property in Lagos must remain the government’s highest priority.
