9th June, 2014
Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria, TROAN, Obalende/Ikoyi/Victoria Island Branch has kicked against the order banning from plying some routes in the area by Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa.
The operators of the tricycles said Opeifa invited them to a meeting where he told them they had been stopped from plying their major routes, which are Obalende to Keffi and Obalende to Golden Gate, all within Ikoyi.
According to the Branch Chairman of TROAN, Mr. Abdulateef Kolawole Adeshokan, who led his members on a protest to the inaugural meeting of All Progressive Congress, APC, of Ikoyi Obalende Local Council Development Area, LCDA, held at Falomo at the weekend, “we are all members of APC and law-abiding citizens of the LCDA. We were so surprised that Opeifa wanted to take away our source of livelihood by banning us from the only routes that we operate our business with no genuine reason, only that he just wants to see us off the road and replace us with taxi operators.
“He had been using VIO, LASTMA and KAI officers to impound our tricycles and we believe it is high time we cried out to the leadership of APC in our area, especially our Central Leader, Mr. Wale Edun to help us out.”
Mr. Edun, former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, who was at the meeting, commended the peaceful protest of the tricycle owners and operators, adding that the beauty of democracy, which APC believes in, is to give people opportunity to express their grievances.
“I want to assure you that we will talk to our people at the top for them to see reason to rescind their decision. I’m so happy that as APC members you did not take the law into your hands, but you organised yourself for this peaceful protest. We’ll get across to the Commissioner for Transportation to see how we can solve the problem amicably without taking food from the mouths of our members,” said Edun, the chairman of Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame.