Motorcyclists on Rampage
By Femi Morgan
Commercialist Motorcyclists are said to be at it again. This time they staged a protest at the Alausa Junction staged a protest blockade at the Alausa and Maryland axis, Lagos on the 20th July, 2010. According to Eye Witness reports, the protest was necessitated by the indiscriminate arrest of Motorcyclists by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA in the area. In addition, The Lagos State Government has also imposed a ban on motorcyclist from plying the Alausa axis.
As at the time of the report, there was strong mobile police presence at the round-about in order to ensure obedience. The motorcyclists have therefore dispersed reportedly to avoid any fracas. Ugochukwu Ugwem , a roadside hawker confirmed the incident and said that the motorcyclists felt that they were being deprived of the earnings gotten from plying that area of the road. For Ugwem, not every Alausa staff has a car that can take him or her to the office.
An Eye witness who cut a picture of a student said that the government barred the ‘Okadamen not to go to Alausa and they said there are a lot of graduates who don’t want to steal among them. A lot of Alausa Staff are still at the bus stops scrambling for buses at the bus stop, he said. The police just came to settle it for them before they moved.’
Ibrahim Abdullahi, a motorcyclist who was part of the protesting bunch told the magazine that LASTMA officials have been arresting them without any form of courtesy. Abdullahi said government made the decision when a criminal on motorcycle robbed staff of the Lagos State government staffs at the government house. Abdullahi said ‘it is not a crime to be an Okada man and it is not okey to say because one criminal on Okada stole in Alausa that means all Okada men should not come there for security reasons. I also feel it is unfair to be treated like goats by LASTMA officials who extort money from you after threatening you with all sort of things.’
Meanwhile, Kayode Opeifa, the special adviser to the Lagos State Governor told pressmen that appropriate measures are being put in place to ease the transport difficulties within the secretariat. Opeifa said that it became imperative that the excesses of the commercial riders be curtailed. A LASTMA official also responded to the alleged highhandedness and indiscriminate extortion made by Okadamen, he said that the agency only dealt with only those who broke traffic rules and those who need to be warned about their recklessness.
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