Some commercial motorcycle operators, popularly called okada, have accused officials of the Lagos State Task Force of high-handedness.
The okada riders and residents made this allegation on the heels of the recent raid carried out by the operatives of the taskforce on commercial motorcycle operators at the Ojodu-Berger area of the state.
Our correspondent, who was at the scene during the raid, observed some residents and okada operators lamenting the excesses of the law enforcement officers.
Many of the okada riders told our correspondent that with the confiscation of their motorcycles by the taskforce, they had lost their only source of livelihood.
They also accused the Lagos State Government of being insensitive to the plight of the people.
They claimed that in spite of the fact that the streets where they were apprehended by the task force officials fell within the boundary of Ogun State, the Lagos taskforce officials still confiscated their motorcycles.
They, therefore, described the raid by the Lagos taskforce officials as illegal and unconstitutional.
“This is totally unacceptable. The pains being inflicted on us by the Lagos State Government in this area, particularly, we, commercial transport workers, are too much. It was this same government that restricted commercial bus operators from their previous park on the condition that they wanted to build a new park. Yet, they did not let them go back there after finishing the place, only to push them and choke up this narrow street. Now they have come to us and impounded our motorcycles,” one of the affected operators, who identified himself as Uche, lamented.
Another victim of the raid, who asked not to be named, said, “I am a graduate, but this is what I have been doing since there is no job, and through it, I have been able to raise my own family. And I thank God, with this job, I provide for my wife and children. Now that they have taken my bike, what do they want me to be doing? I can’t do robbery. And this is one of the reasons young men resort to robbery.”
A young man, Obiora, while wailing over the loss of his motorcycle to the raid, said, “I just got the bike on hire purchase and I have yet to pay half of the money, but now the bike is gone. I don’t have money and my livelihood is threatened.”
Meanwhile, the Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria, has protested alleged incessant demolition of structures and other stiffer measures imposed by the state government, which according to the group, is making life difficult for the residents.
The group, during their protest, carried placards with different inscriptions such as, “Scrap Lagos task force”, “Make Lagos work for us”, “Our people are being arrested and put in Black Maria.”
The President of the group, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, said, “All our facilities and shops are being demolished; it is like the Lagos State Government is all out to snuff life out of us, the common working people, especially in the informal sector. And yet we are 70 per cent of the working population.”
