Lagos to enforce restriction on okada, street trading

Rising from the monthly Security Council Meeting involving heads of all security agencies in the state chaired by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the weekend, the Lagos State Government said it would, henceforth, see to the strict enforcement of extant laws in the state especially those bordering on environment offences and restriction of operation of commercial motorcyclists.

Briefing Government House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting alongside heads of the Army, Navy, Airforce and other security agencies in the state, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, urged the public to desist from patronising traders especially where street trading is not allowed.

Owoseni also urged residents of the state to stop patronizing commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada operators on routes where the law restricts them from plying.

He said: “The Council appraised the security situation in the state and looked at the challenges we are still having and from discussions and conclusions that were made, the Council agreed that lot of progress had been made.

“We have covered lot of miles regarding security and safety in the state. For now, the State is relatively peaceful.

“We want to sustain that tempo; we want to improve on that tempo. We have looked at those areas we need to improve upon and basically those were the issues the Council considered,” Owoseni said.

When asked on the directive by Governor Ambode at the Town Hall Meeting in Ikorodu last week that Okada should not ply Mile 12-Ikorodu route, the Commissioner said: “Yes, we deliberated on that and I can tell you that we specifically considered the need to improve on enforcement of the laws of the state, especially the areas where we have been having challenges with members of the public with regard to enforcement.

“Specifically, I’m talking about the street trading, the restriction of commercial motorcyclists to certain areas. You see, there is need to have the buy-in of members of the public in all these and the Council considered the need for us to still tell the citizens that in as much as we want to enforce, there is also need for members of the public to willfully comply with extant laws of the State.

“When they comply and conform to the laws, it will be easier for security agencies to enforce. Where the law says there should not be street trading, people should not patronize street traders; where the law says Okada should not ply certain routes, people should not patronize commercial motorcyclists in those areas.

“But most importantly, as the Security Council has always emphasized, there is need for everyone to be security conscious and raise awareness about security in their surroundings,” Owoseni said.