Lady Bike; Okada Riders’ New Antics In Lagos

Barely a year that the Lagos State Government banned the operation of commercial motorcycle in 10 Local Government Areas of Lagos, their activities have not been totally subdued.

The Okada Riders have devised various means to beat the regulation even when millions of their motorcycles had been confiscated by the government.

Apart from seizing their bikes, the Lagos law stipulates three years in prison for any Okada rider who defaults the rules.

In June 2022, the police prosecuted seven Okada riders and 70 passengers for their unruly behaviour. The magistrate fined each of the riders N50,000 or one month in prison, according to the police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hudenyin.

Before he left office in May this year, the former Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladehinde said that over 2000 motorcycles had been crushed since the ban in the first six local government areas.

And when four more local government areas were added, over 500 motorcycles had been crushed.

The idea was to keep Lagos safe from accident and robbery.

The government also advised the ban Okada operators to embrace the state Employment Trust Funds or enrol at any of the 18 vocational centres across the state to learn new trade.

The clampdown in Lagos pushed many of the Okada riders to boundary towns of Ogun State but recently, a few of them had resurfaced in Ojodu area of Ikeja, Yaba, Shomolu and parts of Lagos Island where they had been previously banned.

Currently, they operate new type of machine known as “lady bike” to move their passengers. The bike falls short of the standard recommended by the state.

According to the law, any bike with the engine below 200cc capacity, including lady bike is not allowed to ply the restricted  routes.

However, our correspondent learnt that the Okada riders resorted to lady bike because it was not originally included in the list of motorcycle banned on the specified  Lagos roads.

The operators, most of whom now come out at night to pick passengers are gradually increasing in number mostly on Lagos Island.

In Ojodu Local Council Development Area, the activities of Okada operators are enormous. This is because part of Ojodufalls under Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The Okada riders station their motorcycles about 20 metresaway from Berger Bus Stop, along Kosoko street because the area falls under Ogun State during the day and move in to Lagos at night.

Reacting to this new antics, the Lagos State Taskforce said that it had noticed the development and would be ridding the state of the menace of Okada Operators who have devised new means of operating on the highways and restricted routes across the metropolis.

The Chairman of the Agency, CSP Shola Jejeloye reiterated the commitment of his unit to stop the new gimmicks.

Jejeloye who had led a series of weeklong operations across strategic locations where recalcitrant operators have been plying commercially but with the use of a different type of inconspicuous motorcycle popularly called “Lady Machine”, said that six of them were arrested at CMS area of Lagos Island recently.

According to him, some of these recalcitrant okada operators who had their bikes seized in the past have acquired more portable types of bikes called ‘Lady Machine’ to carry out their operations on the highways. These bikes are sleek and more evasive but these antics are no longer a secret”.

He said that the taskforce had  raided CMS, Ebute-Ero, ijora, Ikeja-Along, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and Oshodi Bus Stop and observed the growing number of lady machine.

” We need to remind the illegal operators of the position of the State Government on their operations across the Stay that no stone would be left unturned till the illegal operations of Okada on restricted routes are completely eradicated.

“Motorbikes with engine capacity below 200cc are not allowed to operate on the State Highways, therefore all forms of bikes that fall within that range, be it the normal okada or lady machine will be confiscated and crushed according to the provisions of the law”, he started” he said.

While revealing that the task force will continue to clamp down on the illegal activities of recalcitrant Okada Riders in line with the State’s vision on Transportation, he vowed to arrest both rider and passenger caught violating the laws governing vehicular operations on the highways and restricted routes.

“We arrested six suspects including riders and passengers today at CMS and we will ensure that they face the full wrath of the law for their violations. We hope that it would serve as a deterrent to others who intend to ride or patronise okadaoperators along these routes. Anyone caught would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly”, he declared.