Police say both motorcyclists and passengers who defy the new ban on Okada operations in Lagos will be arrested and prosecuted

The Lagos State Police Command has announced that both motorcyclists and passengers who defy the new ban on Okada operations in the state will be arrested and prosecuted.

The Lagos State Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, made this known on Saturday.

“Under the new total ban of motorcycles in six local government areas of Lagos State, passengers and riders alike will be arrested and prosecuted. The passenger is an accomplice. Ignorance will not be an excuse!” he tweeted.

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has on Wednesday, declared a total ban on the operations of commercial motorcycles popularly called Okada, in six Local Governments.

The six local governments listed by the governor are Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa.

The governor said the fresh Okada ban followed the February 2020 restriction placed on the activities of commercial motorcycles.

Sanwo-Olu said the government took the decision in line with the State’s Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018 to immediately address the chaos and menace created by the operations of Okada in the listed areas.

He told the police to enforce the order without compromise.

He said, “After a critical review of our restriction on Okada activities in the first six Local Government Areas where we restricted them on February 1, 2020, we have seen that the menace has not abated. We are now directing a total ban on Okada activities across the highways and bridges within these six Local Government and their Local Council Development Areas, effective from June 1, 2022.

“This is a phased ban we are embarking on this period, and we expect that within the short while when this ban will be enforced, Okada riders in other places where their activities are yet to be banned can find something else to do. We have given the notice now and we expect all commercial motorcycles plying the routes in the listed councils and areas to vacate the highways before enforcement begins. The enforcement will be total.”