Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, has declared his support for Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s decision to ban Okadas, motorcycles.
Fashola, who served as the governor of Lagos state from May 2007 to May 2015 and had also banned Okada riders during his administration, expressed his endorsement of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s decision during a public lecture organized by the United Action for Change (UAC) in Lagos on Thursday, February 6th.
“If you care about security, you should back your governor on okada ban. As a centre of excellence, okada cannot be part of the plan. I’ve always held this position. Motorcycle have always been a conduit pipe for the opioid crisis among youths. We must act to eliminate anonymity.
I was robbed in my home, in fact on my bed in 1999. Organized crime is dynamic, criminals are aware that people don’t keep money at home again, now they diversified into kidnapping people for ransom. We must have data to identify people. You have SIM cards on your phone.
It’s called subscriber identity module which can be tracked everywhere in the world. The attorney-general of each state and legislators should act.
In those days, we used to have licence for bicycles.” Fashola said
On January 27th, the state government banned motorcycles, keke Napeps in six Local Government Areas (LGAs), nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 10 major highways across the State. Also banned are ride hailing services, OPay and GOkada.