Lagosians Warns Not To Patronise Motorcyclists As Uniform Men Won’t Be Spared

The Lagos State Government has on Wednesday advised residents not to patronise commercial motorcyclists and tricycle (Okada and Keke NAPEP) operators plying restricted routes.

It said policemen “who use this mode of transportation on restricted roads will not be spared, as they will be arrested and made to face the law.”

The government said that there would be increased re-enforcement of the restriction of commercial motorcycles and tricycles on roads.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy,Gbenga Omotoso,  who addressed journalists after the security meeting with heads of security agencies at the Lagos House, Marina, however, said policemen who are fully kitted in their uniforms riding motorcycles to and from work are not flouting the law because that is their means of transportation.

He said if there are no people patronising the commercial motorcyclists and tricycle operators on the restricted routes, “the operators will not have any business to do.”

“People should stop patronising them because the order was made in the interest of security of lives and safety of our people and they are the same people who end up in hospitals in the event of an accident from this mode of transportation,” he said.

Omotoso hailed Lagosians for supporting the government in the restriction and for enduring the little pains caused by it.

He said that the palliatives promised by the government, which included 14 and 18 sitter buses, would soon be rolled out, possibly next month.

He appealed to Lagosians “to continue to support the government to provide a secure environment for business to thrive and in which everybody can go about their activities without any fear of being harassed or intimidated by any group or persons.”

The Commissioner urged Lagosians to bear with the recent closure of some parts of the Eko Bridge, as it is being done to fix some faults detected, to avoid calamity. Omotoso said that the government was waiting for reports from the experts to know how long the repaired work would take.