BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Gbenga Oyerinde, Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Central Business Districts, has warned miscreants and commercial motorcycle operators, popularly known as Okada riders, against illegal operations within the area.
Oyerinde issued the warning in a statement, on Thursday, in reaction to the increasing reports of miscreants terrorising business owners, shoppers and visitors, as well as aiding okada riders operating illegally on restricted routes within the Ikeja and Lagos Island business districts.
The statement quoted him as saying that as the yuletide season approached, business districts usually witnessed a large influx of shoppers, exploited by miscreants and hoodlums.
It added that the state government would not tolerate illegal activities by miscreants parading themselves as ‘omonile’ in any part of the business districts in the state.
It also called on youth associations and Community Development Associations within the Ikeja and Lagos Island Business District to caution their relatives as anyone arrested would be prosecuted accordingly.
The statement read that nobody would be allowed to derail the set objectives of the CBD as enshrined in the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the state government.
While condemning the attitudes of Okada operators who flout traffic laws, it stated that the ban on Okada and tricycle operations on some roads within the Lagos Island CBD was still in force.
It, therefore, warned the operators, as well as bus drivers, dispatch riders and tricycle operators within the district to obey traffic rules in accordance with Section 3 of the Lagos Road Traffic Law, 2012.
“It is very disheartening that despite the activities of CBD operatives to ensure smooth traffic situations within the Island business district, the activities of Okada operators, commercial bus drivers, cab operators, as well as private car owners, aided by miscreants and hoodlums to park indiscriminately, has worsened the situation,” it read.
It decried the excesses of street traders displaying wares on walkways and roads, and urged market leaders and shop owners to remove makeshift shops from the area.
