Lagos Issues 21-day Ultimatum to Keke, Okada Riders

The Lagos State government has issued a 21-day ultimatum to motorcyclists and tricycle operators in the state to vacate restricted roads in the state.

The government made this known during a meeting with the unions of the two transport operators in at the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Tunji Bello explained that the 21-day ultimatum was for the unions to sensitize their members to vacate the restricted routes before the enforcement commences.

“We have held a meeting with the okada unions on what should be done; we have held meeting with security agencies before now. Recently, we noticed a resurgence of okada riders going back to their old ways,” Bello said.

He also lamented that “some of them even drive one way on Apapa Expressway. When you go to Apapa, Lagos-Badagry Express, Gbagada, and others, you will see them. We have to call them to let them know.

“The complaint was that when the election was coming, there was relaxation and they went back. They thought there had been relaxation. They asked us to give them some time. We felt there was need for two weeks of enlightenment, but they said it was too short. They asked for two months till August and we say no, we can only give three weeks maximum because we are not doing anything new, what we are doing is to reinforce the law, it is not that we are re-enacting the law,” Bello added.
Bello noted that okada-related accidents dropped when the law was introduced in 2012.