THE BIKE SEIZING BUSINESS

Ever since the ministry of Transportation under the Lagos State Government came out with a new Traffic Law and thereby placing Ban on Commercial motorcycle riders, popularly known as OKADA, restricting them of movement on major road in Lagos State.

The impoundment and seizing of these motorcycles (OKADA) has now become a lucrative business for the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in the sense that it has now become a source of income for policemen.

In the recent past this issue has raised a lot of controversies in other states in Nigeria, and now it happening in Lagos City.

The issue is so alarming because it now seems as if the both parties (Police & Okada Riders) are now playing a game of “Police & Thief’’ just like little kids in primary school; where an Okada man on motion caught the sight of a policeman and would suddenly make an abrupt U-turn without caring where and how he made it just to escape the harassment and extortion from the police officials.

The policemen were expected to implement justice, but in the itinerary forget their primary duties and start chasing Okada men thereby maneuvering everything to a business affair, that is, if you want to ride without fear or disturbance, you would have to settle the officers.

Further more, not only do the policemen see this as a way of extorting money from the Okada rider, but also harassing them with their Guns, we all heard the story of how an Okada man was brutally beaten by a policeman.

The most annoying part is when you see the Anti-robbery Squad Unit of the Police Force arresting bikes and Okada man settling them as a kind of bail for their impounded bikes; what has the Anti robbery Squad got to do with the withholding bikes? Nothing, Absolutely nothing, but because of the money that was discovered to be involve make every unit in the Police Force are interested in what I now called the “Seizing of Bike Business”.

It quite unfortunate that, the Lagos State Government is not doing anything about this, let all imagine this, if that all bike that are seize are not returned back to the owners, then , the population of bike in Lagos would have reduce to a minimal level, since the law made.