2nd April, 2012
Thousands of commercial motorcycle riders also known as okada riders today stormed the Ikeja High Court where they instituted a case against the Lagos State government for banning them in parts of the state.
Their lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, addressed them within the court premises shortly before their matter came up for hearing.
As at press time, the hearing was ongoing
Meanwhile, two main okada unions in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, have dissociated themselves from the ongoing court case instituted against the ban on okada business in Ikeja area of the state.
Rather, they are seeking dialogue with the state government over the issue. The Ikeja branch of the All Nigerian Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers Association, ANACOWA, had sued the state government over the ban.
On Sunday, the two state unions, ANACOWA and the Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State (MOALS)dissociated themselves from the planned protest by okada riders and litigations, which they said, some groups had planned to stage in Lagos over the ban.
MOALS Chairman, Mr. Tijani Perkins, said he backed the government on the new policy on okada, saying it was meant to regulate okada operation in the state.
“We are not interested in protest, which some few members of the associations are planning. We are not interested in the court actions. If our members operate on the route the state government asks them to operate, there will not be any issue,” h e stated.
ANACOWA chairman, Mr. Ade Ikuesan in a statement sought dialogue with the government on the ban on okada in Ikeja, while dissociating his group from other okada associations, which had dragged the state government to court on the issue, stating that it would be better the issue of okada menace “is resolved through dialogue”.
He wants a meeting be convened between the stakeholders “to rationalise the issue particularly against the wanton arrest of okada operators by police officers in and beyond the aforementioned areas, citing the policy as the basis of such arrest”.
He said the position of the association “is in furtherance of our policy of always advancing the course of dialogue as a most suitable means of resolving conflicts,” rather than resorting to litigation through court of law.
“While we express our misgivings at the blanket ban recently pronounced with respect to the operation of commercial motorcycle in Ikeja and its environs due to the inimical economic consequences it will have on our members, we distance our associations from the group of associations that have resorted to litigating the issue with the state government in the High Court of Lagos State.”
—Henry Ojelu & Kazeem Ugbodaga