Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu took decisive action by ordering the apprehension of a soldier and three motorcyclists who were found violating traffic regulations on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, on Tuesday.
Shared by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, a video captured the governor seizing motorcycles and detaining several riders for their disregard of the state’s traffic laws.
Earlier reports, conveyed through videos on the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant Wale Ajetunmobi’s online platform, detailed the disorderly behavior of motorcycle riders who swiftly abandoned their bikes and passengers upon noticing Governor Sanwo-Olu’s convoy while navigating one-way routes along the expressway.
The statement said, “One of the offenders -a Lance Corporal in the Army- was arrested with his bike.”
One of the videos shows the moment some motorcyclists drove away with their passengers to escape being arrested by the governor’s security officers.
Some of them were escaping on foot while abandoning their motorcycles and their passengers.
In another video, Sanwo-Olu ordered the officers to put one of the motorcyclists who claimed to be a soldier into the vehicle, stating that he was going to lock him up.
He said, “Put him there; let your father come and rescue you. You’re telling me you are a soldier; that is the reason I’m going to lock you up, useless boy.”
When contacted by the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, he said the governor arrested four motorcyclists for violating traffic rules.
He said, “Four people were arrested because they violated traffic rules.”
Also, when contacted, the spokesperson for the 81st Division of the Nigerian Army said he would get back to our correspondent, but had not done so as of the time this story was filed.
The governor had banned the operations of commercial motorcycles, popularly called Okada, in six local governments.
The governor’s ban is said to be “indefinite and total.” The six local governments listed by the governor are Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa.
Sanwo-Olu expanded the prohibition on commercial motorcycles to encompass four additional local government areas and five local council development areas. Effective from September 1, 2022, strict enforcement was mandated.
Additionally, the Lagos State Task Force announced its intention to destroy at least 130 motorcycles confiscated from commercial bike operators in the Alakija, Second Rainbow area. Chairman Shola Jejeloye of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offenses Agency justified this enforcement due to the persistent disregard of state traffic laws by bike riders, specifically their operation on restricted highways.
