Okada: Lagos residents urged Fashola to call police to order

Residents of Lagos have described the manner in
which men of the Nigerian police Force embark on the ongoing clamp down on the activities of commercial motorcycle riders, popularly
known as okada, as brutal and inhumane saying it is capable of undermining the good intention of the of the state government .

Armed uniformed men were seen chasing and arresting okada riders in some parts of the state during an enforcement mainly carried out by men of the Nigerian police Force across restricted areas of Lagos during the weekend .The operation which started as early as 07:00 local time disrupted commercial activities in Agege, Oko-Oba, Ipaja, Iju-Ishaga , Abule Egba , Ikeja , Ogba
among others
.
During chats with our reporter, a cross section of
residents who witnessed the enforcement in Agege expressed their displeasures at the manner in which the okada operators were being treated during the exercise.

Alhaja Muibat Adekoya, a bus passenger said fully
armed police
men were beating commercial motorcycle riders
even as their bikes
were being impounded.
'' I was on the bus, suddenly we saw everyone
running. When we
got to the front of the police station, I saw a man
rolling on the floor.
They were kicking him in the face and there was
blood all over his
body ''
'' These people are human beings and they should be
treated in a
more civilised manner '' she added.
Another eye witness, an insurance broker who simply
introduced
himself as Chinedu also condemned the action of the
uniformed
men, describing it as capable of destroying the good
intention of the
state government.
'' I'm sure the governor did not send them this. Why
would you
brutalise fellow human like that ?. This is barbarric
and should not
be encouraged in our society''
According to Chinedu, the restriction on the
movement of okada
was a welcome idea due to the spate of armed
robberies and
accident associated with motorcycles in the state. He
however
accused the police of insubordination.
'' I think the police are doing this intentionally to give
governor
Fashola a bad name. Yes, they are making him
unpopular among
the people now. I was told that some of them even go
as far as
taking seized okada to their various homes for keeps.
It's not fair
and I hope the governor would call them to order
before they tarnish
his image and destroy all the good work he has done
in Lagos ''
The story is not different in abattoir, Oko-Oba area of
the state
where commercial activities were disrupted by heavy
presence of
uniformed men who physically assaulted okada
riders attempting to
escape arrest. Residents gathered in their numbers
to show
compassion towards helpless okada operators most
of whom were
considered to be ''poor'' citizens.
Over 4000 motorcycles have been crushed by the
state's Task
Force on Environment and Special Offences Unit.
Unconfirmed reports also say that some of the seized
bikes were
also thrown into the lagoon by the authority.