The Lagos Arewa Community has called on the Security Agencies to identify and arrest criminal elements masquerading as Okada riders.
The meeting held few days after the Lagos State Government declared a total ban on okada riding in six Local Government Areas of the State as a measure to curb the unruly behaviour of the riders.
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The community expressed support for all measures taken by the Lagos State Government in its efforts towards protecting Lagosians.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the Secretary General of Lagos State Arewa Community (LASACOMM) affirmed that restriction of Commercial Motorcycle (Okada) operators in some Local Governments in the State is not a new law but has been in existence for over 10years.
The community stressed the need to have adequate data of everyone while it called on the Lagos State Government to be vigilant and take punitive measures on bad eggs within the security agencies.
“We condemn in totality the activities of all criminal elements who are mostly foreigners from Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon and other Neighbouring countries who have infiltrated the ranks of those genuine riders and thereby perpetrating all forms of crime in Lagos state and are constituting serious threats to the lives and properties of Lagosians.”
“We are law abiding and we will always continue to intimate on all our members to continue to be law abiding and operate only within the ambits of the law,” the communique read in part.
The Arewa Community urged the Nigeria Immigration Service to step up its actions along the border line in checking the influx of those foreign elements coming into the country without genuine intention.
The community also called on all well-meaning Arewa Community members to comply with the common resolve and avoid the LGAs where “okada riding” have been banned.
The LGAs are Apapa, Surulere, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Etiosa and Ikeja.
“We will work with the Lagos State Government and the Association of Arewa Okada Riders towards the implementation of extant rules and documentation of all riders in all Local Governments of Lagos State. We must have adequate data on everyone. We call on the Lagos State Government to be vigilant and take proper punitive measures on bad eggs within the security agencies.”
