Lagos Impounds 22 Bikes n 93 Others.…To Prosecute Riders

The Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences, on Tuesday, impounded 115 motorcycles, including 22 branded commercial motorcycles called ‘Gokada’ and ‘Maxokada’, for violating the state road traffic laws.

The Chairman of the task force, Olayinka Egbeyemi, stated that the motorcyclists were operating on restricted routes and driving against traffic around Ikeja, Ojota and Maryland.

Egbeyemi, who said the activities of the branded commercial motorcycle operators were illegal and without valid documentation by the state government, ordered the owners and operators of ‘Gokada’ and ‘Maxokada’ to comply with the Lagos State Road Traffic Law, 2012.

He added that in accordance with the law, no commercial motorcycle operator was allowed to operate on 475 restricted routes, including highways and bridges across the state.

He said, “The government enjoined members of the public to henceforth desist from patronising commercial motorcyclists on all restricted routes as the passengers are also liable to prosecution.

“It was an eyesore seeing the operators of these newly-branded commercial motorcycles, ‘Gokada’ and ‘Maxokada’, in competition for the right of way with motorists on highways and bridges across the state”

The task force chairman added that the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Mu’azu, had ordered the prosecution of the 10 riders arrested.

One of the arrested ‘Gokada’ riders, Francis Ayeni, who claimed to be paying N3,000 per day to the management of the ride-hailing company, said he was not aware of any documentation that needed to be made with the government.

Another arrested ‘Maxokada’ rider, Adebayo Adeniran, noted that he collected the commercial motorcycle on hire purchase from the management of the firm after he had presented a guarantor.