Tension as Okada riders attack Police operatives enforcing ban.


On Thursday morning in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos policemen attempted to enforce the state government ban on the operation of commercial motorcycle operators also known as Okada riders.

Previously, the state government had on Wednesday issued a total ban on the activities of the Okada riders in six local government areas of the state over the killing of a sound engineer, David Imoh, at Lekki.

According to reports, in view of the state order, policemen from Onireke Police Station, Ojo had impounded some commercial motorcycles for operating along the Mile 2 – Badagry expressway, but the riders vehemently resisted the move.

The riders thereafter reportedly attempted to overrun the station and possibly set free some of their members who were arrested by the policemen.

The riders set fire in the middle of the road, while the owners of vehicles abandoned them by the side of the road due to the chaos.

The crisis reportedly led to a stampede as pedestrians fled for fear of being caught up in the crossfire, even as the incident created heavy vehicular movement on both sides of the road.

While the policemen fired several shots into the air to disperse the commercial motorcycle operators, the riders themselves pelted the officers with stones, daring the policemen to come after them.

A yet to be ascertained number of persons sustained different wounds as they tried to run away from the trouble zone.

As of press time, a combined team of anti-riot policemen and some soldiers have been deployed to return normalcy to the area.

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