Task force impounds, to destroy over 7,000 okadas.
The chairman of the Lagos State Environmental Task Force, Bayo Suleiman, has said all the commercial motorcycles seized for traffic offences will be destroyed.
He put the number of impounded motorcycles, also known as okada, at over 7,000.
The motorcycles, which are at the task force’s office at Alausa in Ikeja, were seized between January and November this year.
Suleiman said, "Currently, we have over 7,000 okadas, which have been confiscated. From June to November, 5,758 okadas were seized.
"The decision is that all these motorcycles will be crushed. We discovered over time that auctioning them didn’t help matters.
"They still find their way back into the hands of commercial motorcyclists, who, in a bid to make quick money, flout the government’s rules regulating their activities."
Governor Babatunde Fashola had on Monday lamented the number of accidents and robberies involving okadas while meeting with the State Security Committee.
Fashola said, "It is regrettable that we have not fully addressed and implemented the recommendations concerning commercial motorcyclists.
"Now, we need the benefit of the committee’s expertise, advice and knowledge on the way we can review some of the recommendations made in 2007."
A source at the task force, who requested anonymity, said, "Most commercial motorcyclists are not jobless. They are usually artisans, who abandoned their trade because of the lure of quick money.
"That is why an okada man will take someone from Ikorodu to Lagos Island at the cost of N3,000, a sum which he would have most likely not made in a day if he had stuck to his trade of vulcanising tyres.
"The state government has already restricted their routes to certain areas and hours. No commercial motorcyclist should be found on a federal highway.
He put the number of impounded motorcycles, also known as okada, at over 7,000.
The motorcycles, which are at the task force’s office at Alausa in Ikeja, were seized between January and November this year.
Suleiman said, "Currently, we have over 7,000 okadas, which have been confiscated. From June to November, 5,758 okadas were seized.
"The decision is that all these motorcycles will be crushed. We discovered over time that auctioning them didn’t help matters.
"They still find their way back into the hands of commercial motorcyclists, who, in a bid to make quick money, flout the government’s rules regulating their activities."
Governor Babatunde Fashola had on Monday lamented the number of accidents and robberies involving okadas while meeting with the State Security Committee.
Fashola said, "It is regrettable that we have not fully addressed and implemented the recommendations concerning commercial motorcyclists.
"Now, we need the benefit of the committee’s expertise, advice and knowledge on the way we can review some of the recommendations made in 2007."
A source at the task force, who requested anonymity, said, "Most commercial motorcyclists are not jobless. They are usually artisans, who abandoned their trade because of the lure of quick money.
"That is why an okada man will take someone from Ikorodu to Lagos Island at the cost of N3,000, a sum which he would have most likely not made in a day if he had stuck to his trade of vulcanising tyres.
"The state government has already restricted their routes to certain areas and hours. No commercial motorcyclist should be found on a federal highway.
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