Aggrieved riders of
motorcycles popularly called Okada plying Magodo area of Lagos State took to the Ojodu Berger
road on Monday to engage some officers of the Lagos State Traffic and
Management Authority in a fight after a raid by a combined team of policemen
and LASTMA officers.
Our correspondent gathered
that an Okada rider, said to be plying one of the restricted routes,
was chased by the patrol teams.
An eyewitness said when they
left after chasing other Okada riders away, others went on the rampage
threatening to attack any LASTMA man in sight.
When our correspondent
arrived at the scene of the incident, some of the protesting Okada riders
were seen blocking the Roundabout at the end of the road with a traffic box.
They also beat two officers
of the LASTMA controlling traffic on the road before they were rescued by passers-by
and members of the Ojodu-Berger chapter of the National Union of Road Transport
Workers.
Some of the motorcycle
riders said they were not operating on any of the restricted routes in the
state and could not understand why the police had continued to molest them.
The incident caused a
gridlock before members of the Ojodu-Berger chapter of the NURTW mobilised
themselves to control the traffic.
Chairman of the Ojodu-Berger Park of the NURTW, Mr. Tokunbo
Seriki said the police were on a “sanitising” exercise across motor parks in
the area.
He said it was after they
finished checking the park that they decided to move to the Okada Park.
Seriki said, ‘‘I was told
that a fight was about to break between the LASTMA officers and the Okada
riders, so I quickly moved in with my officers. This axis is known for
peace and we will not compromise the peace for anything. We will control the
traffic till we are sure the officers are safe.”
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