Riders on the platform of Opay and Gokada hailing services staged a peaceful protest on Friday, to protest the ban announced by the Lagos State Government on motorcycle and tricycle taking effect from February 1st.
The Lagos State Government earlier in the week announced plans to commence total enforcement of the 2012 state Traffic Law on activities of motorcyclists, popularly called Okada and tricycles (popularly known as “Keke Marwa”) on restricted routes and bridges.
The announcement was made by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, Frederic Oladeinde, and Moyosore Onigbanjo, Commissioners for Transportation, Attorney-General and Justice, respectively, at a joint press briefing, held at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.
The commissioner however said the measure became necessary following flagrant disregards to the traffic law by the operators and more, so the need to further ensure the safety of lives and property of residents and members of the public in general.
However, the peaceful protests comes after managements of Gokada and Max NG ride-hailing services made an appeal to the state government to rescind the decision, stating that their operations were compliant with the 2012 traffic law and the social impact made by the ride services in terms of job creations. Mr. Tayo Bamidiro, Chief Executive Officer, MAXOkada, stated that the company has created 2,200 direct jobs for our drivers and full-time staff and 73,000 indirect jobs. It is expected that those jobs and investments made will be lost when the 2012 traffic law goes into full effect come February 1, 2020.
