Lagos Okada Riders Accuse Policemen Of Extortion

The men of the Lagos State Police Command have been accused of extortion by certain commercial motorcycle riders.

They further asserted that the police officers assigned to the Alimosho Local Government Area’s Afonka, Shasha, and Moshalashi Police Stations along Ayobo Road were fond of imprisoning their motorcycles despite the fact that they were not traveling any of the routes that the state government had forbade.
Ibrahim Anwalu, one of the Okada riders, told our correspondent that he had been extorted numerous times when he did not operate on the main road. Ibrahim Anwalu rides at Tastee Chicken at Oke Street and Pako near the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway Junction.

“Once it is 7pm, policemen from Afonka with their patrol van would enter the streets. They would be looking for Okada riders to extort despite that we are not plying prohibited routes,” he said.
Another motorcyclist, Christain Asuquo, said, “I have been a victim of these policemen. They collected N2,000 from a friend who does okada business like me last week. But one place that they always come to is Oke Street, near the road. They also raid Okada people on their bikes at Pako Junction.

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“My bike was taken around the Grand Joy Hotel in the streets when they stopped me last week. We operate on the street and not on the main road. The policemen are making it hard for us to make a living.”

Another motorcyclist, Samuel Okpadu, also corroborated his colleagues’ claims.
Contacted, the spokesperson for the state Ministry of Transportation, Bolanle Ogunlola, said, “It is common knowledge that the government has restricted the movement of bikes on the major highways in the state.
“Meanwhile, I believe that the police should be in the best position to explain why if indeed policemen have been arresting them on the streets.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, asked our correspondent to call the command’s complaints unit’s telephone numbers.
An official who took the call made to one of the telephone lines said policemen were not supposed to arrest motorcyclists on the streets except there were cases of criminal activities.

The official who declined to reveal his identity said, “Though, this is the complaint unit of the police in Lagos but the PPRO is the one who would give a reaction on this.

“Meanwhile, our men are not supposed to arrest riders on the streets unless there is a case of criminal activity there.”

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