The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, during his appearance on Politics Today on February 12, 2020.
The Lagos State government has insisted that there is no going back on the decision to ban motorcycles and tricycles popularly known as okada and keke respectively.
The deputy governor of the state, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, stated this during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
He explained that the government took the decision following the rate of crime and accidents recorded on major roads and highways in the state.
Hamzat, however, dismissed the claims that the ban was targeted at anyone or group, saying the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration was only implementing existing laws in the state.
“The truth of the matter is that it is a law that has been in existence since 2012. It was revised by the past administration in 2018. So, it is a law that has been there for like nine, 10 years.
“We all know that it was not implemented; so what we are doing is to implement the law. It’s not that we just woke up and banned them. It is about the security of lives,” he said
According to the deputy governor, the law states clearly that okada and keke are restricted from certain roads, all the bridges, and major highways in the state.
He noted that the rate of accidents recorded from okada since the government implemented the ban has reduced significantly.
Hamzat decried that okada and keke were used by some criminal elements to perpetrate crimes such as drug trafficking and theft among others.
He said, “We have 27 general hospitals in Lagos. On a monthly basis on the average, 28 deaths are related to okada directly.”
“And then, the issue of crime; we now found out that the tricycles and motorcycles are now the vehicles for transporting drugs even to our schools.
“So, the security of lives, the prosperity of our children cannot just be ignored,” the deputy governor stressed.