By TESSY IGOMU
At the moment, Christopher Nwankpa is a very sad man. With a straight face and deep-set frown, you could literally feel his despondency. He feels cheated and battered, not by anyone, but by the Lagos State government.
Nwankpa makes a living as a commercial motorcyclist. He plies his trade along Cele-Ikotun Road but sometimes, he is stationed at the Ladipo auto spare parts market in Mushin. He was a victim of the recent clampdown on commercial motorcyclists by law enforcement agencies trying to enforce strict compliance with the section of the new Lagos traffic law that forbids commercial motorcycles from plying 475 prohibited routes in the state.
In recent time, the traffic law has become a bone of contention between the government and okada riders. The state government, determined to rid Lagos roads of the menace of okada riders, had directed its agencies, including the police, to confiscate any commercial motorcycle found on the forbidden routes. The result has been the seizure of several thousands of motorcycles and their subsequent destruction.
The former dispatch rider claims he was arrested by policemen along the Isolo-Ejigbo road and taken to Ikotun Police Station where his motorcycle was impounded. He said his motorcycle was released after he parted with a substantial amount of money.
Nwankpa is not only piqued by the traffic law, he also described the attitude of law enforcement agents enforcing the ban as overzealous and high-handed.
The clampdown of commercial motorcycles, according to Nwankpa, is a breach of contract, and has vowed to seek legal redress if the state government insists on upholding the traffic law. “The state government would have to pay me for damages and the days I have lost doing nothing because I am a law-abiding, tax-paying Lagos resident,” he vowed. Narrating his ordeal in the hands of policemen attached to the Ikotun Police Station, he said the incident took place on Saturday, October 3, 2012. According to him, he was on his way to Ladipo Market to procure spare parts when he was arrested at Ile-ewe Bus stop and had his motorcycle impounded.
He noted that he was taken to the station where some policemen told him to pay the sum of N5, 000, to have his bike released. He said he had a tough time trying to persuade the policemen to let him go, adding that he was later released alongside his okada after pleading and parting with the sum of N3, 500.
In a tone that clearly betrayed his anger and frustration, he accused the police of high-handiness and abuse of the new Lagos traffic law. He disclosed that he was manhandled and thoroughly searched before being released. “The traffic law has become an avenue to extort and harass commercial motorcyclists who legitimately do their business,” he said. “I was told to pay N5, 000, but I bargained and settled them with N3, 500.
Before releasing my bike, they searched me to ensure that I didn’t have extra money on me. I was really angry. If you get to Ikotun Police Station, you would see several bikes impounded by policemen and you would see their owners actually bargaining to have them released. This is callous because we are being treated like aliens.” He claimed the policemen who usually operate in commercial buses and tricycles lie in wait for okada riders at street corners.
The impounding of commercial motorcycles, according to Nwankpa is undemocratic and draconian. He strongly believes his fundamental rights as a tax paying Lagos residents has been violated and has vowed to seek legal redress. Nwakpa noted that yearly, he pays as much as N10, 000 on levies and procurement of license. This, he noted doesn’t include the N100 okada riders pay daily for tickets in each local government they transverse.
The tickets, he revealed permit all okada riders to ply all Lagos roads. “My grouse with the state government is that they are not supposed to arrest and prosecute someone like me because I have not faulted or fallen short of the law. I am a law abiding citizen who pays tax as promptly,” he said.
He averred that the law was too sudden, noting that they should have been given a grace of one year instead of three months to re-organise their lives before the ban. He said if the state government was sincere with the new traffic law, they should stop issuing licenses and helmets to commercial cyclists. He argued that the major roads which they were being prohibited from plying, are where they actually make their money and get more passengers. Nwankpa is also bitter that the state government didn’t put in place adequate alternatives to cushion the effect of the ban on most of them that depend on okada business for survival.
Defending his colleagues against the accusation of being part of the rise in crime rate in the state, he insists that they are being labeled criminals simply to drive them out of business. “There’s no sector without bad eggs; okada riders are responsible people,” he said. “Most of us are driven to this job by the harsh economic situations in the country.
Yet we are been treated like slaves even when we have rights based on the permit and licenses we pay daily and yearly. I believe in change, but it should be one that would benefit the poor among us. I insist that the state government must put in place alternatives or make loans available for us to purchase bikes with 200 cc capacity.”
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