Lagos: FRSC joins LASTMA, others to enforce restriction on “okada”
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has said that it is collaborating with other traffic agencies to ensure that commercial motorcyclists are barred from plying major roads in Lagos state.
The Sector Commander of the commission in Lagos, Mr Hyginus Omeje, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that a task force had been put in place to enforce the ban.
Omeje said: “On the issue of restriction of Okada on major highways in Lagos State, we are collaborating with the state’s traffic management agencies too. “LASTMA (Lagos State Traffic Management Authority), and the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), to ensure we push them back to the roads where they are supposed to be.
“It is an ongoing exercise, there is a taskforce on that, that is always apprehending them and of course charging them to court.
“As we are pushing them away from this side, you still see them at the other side, each time it is like cat and mouse chase.
“And also we are sensitising the members through their union on the need for them to really know why the government is saying they should not ply the highway, let them be on the feeder roads because of the safety of their own lives.
“We arrange with them in their garages and their loading bays and gather them in a motor park where we can be able to talk to them.
“Circulate handbills, tell them the safety precautions that they are supposed to take while riding and why they should not ride on major roads.’’
Omeje said the command was also working closely with the National Union of Road Transport Workers, the umbrella body of the commercial motorcyclists to make the ban effective.
Via News Agency of Nigeria.
