A deadly clash involving the police and some motorcyclists in the Ipaja area of Lagos State occurred on Monday. The police divisional headquarters along Ayobo road in the area was almost overrun by motorcyclists, some of whom pelted stones at the station.

FIJ learned that the clash broke out in Baruwa Inside, a popular neighbourhood in the area, after a motorcycle was seized by police officers and they demanded some money for its release. FIJ further learned that most of the okada riders had been frustrated for some time because of police high-handedness and extortion.

The melee lasted some hours and culminated in the arrest of some of the attackers, the loss of a rider and the confiscation of over 300 motorcycles.

READ ALSO: ‘Bottled-Up Anger’: Why Okada Riders Attacked Lagos Police Station

Following this attack, Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, claimed in a statement that the police were only enforcing “the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State” when they were attacked.

CLAIM: The clash occurred when police officers from Ipaja Police Station were enforcing the existing ban on commercial motorcycles, locally called okada, in Lagos State.

The police press statement read in part: Officers of Ipaja Police Division have successfully repelled an early morning attack on their division by motorcycle operators.

The attack came after police officers commenced the day’s enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State.

POLICE REPEL ATTACK ON STATION, ARREST ATTACKERS
⁃impound over two hundred motorcycles

Officers of Ipaja Police Division have successfully repelled an early morning attack on their division by motorcycle operators.

The attack came after police officers commenced the day’s

— Lagos State Police Command (@LagosPoliceNG) May 27, 2024

The attackers, who came in their hundreds, stormed the station with dangerous weapons, shooting at the officers and attempting to overrun the station.

While officers and men of the division held their ground, reinforcement came from the Area Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). Two of the attackers were fatally injured during the attack.

However, this did not deter the officers from accomplishing their mandate, as over two hundred motorcycles were impounded.

VERIFICATION: In verifying the claim that the existing order by the Lagos State Government affects Ipaja, which falls under the Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA), FIJ spoke with sources and reviewed government and newspaper publications on the motorcycle ban in the state.

On May 28 and 29, FIJ visited Baruwa Inside, in the Ayobo area, as well as the streets around Area P Police Command, which is also within Ipaja, to speak with people who had knowledge of the attack and verify whether commercial motorcycle operators had been banned from operating in the area.

From this, Alimosho LG area or its LCDAs are not included in the Okada ban.

However, please don't take okada (bike) from egbeda or iyana Ipaja to Ikeja https://t.co/QFeafGRpvS pic.twitter.com/3metNcaRno

— Alimosho LG Lagos (@AlimoshoOnline) June 1, 2022

From the responses obtained from okada riders, residents and an officer of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), FIJ can confirm that okada riders are not banned and have been operating in these low-income communities for years.

Okada riders mentioned that the only existing directive is that they are not allowed to operate before 6 am and after 7 pm for security reasons. This means that they start working at 6 am and close at 7 pm.

In addition to that, our reporter walked around streets some metres away from the attacked police station and counted not less than four spots where a large number of okada riders serving different streets were gathered.

The Area P Police Command Headquarters provided reinforcements to the police station during the Monday attack. Our reporter was also around the command area on Thursday.

Interestingly, okada garages conspicuously lined up the streets around the command, where motorcyclists were operating unhindered and traffic police officers were on the ground. Some residents explained, and this reporter experienced it, that their streets were so bad that only okada riders could reach their residences.

“Okada riders are the only ones operating on our street. The government has not banned them from operating here,” said a resident who did not state their name.

In the history of okada ban in Lagos State, Alimosho LGA, including the local council development areas (LCDA) under it, has never been listed as one of the areas where commercial motorcyclists are prohibited in the state.

The first ban on the operations of okada and keke took effect on February 1, 2020, in six LGAs, nine local council development areas (LCDAs) and 10 major highways across the state. These six LGAs are: Lagos Island, Apapa, Eti-Osa, Surulere, Ikeja and Lagos Mainland.

In 2022, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Governor, extended the ban to cover another four LGAs and the LCDAs under them. These four LGAs are: Oshodi-Isolo, Shomolu, Kosofe and Mushin. This brought the number to 10.

In a publication of October 20, 2022, available on the Lagos State website and signed by Frederic Oladeinde, then Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, the government maintained the same number of areas okada operations were disallowed.

On March 28, 2023, the government maintained the existence of the policy and, in the publication, listed the 10 LGAs and 15 LCDAs concerned.

“The Lagos State Government has reiterated that the ban on commercial motorcycles popularly called ‘Okada’ in 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 15 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) across the State is still in force,” the statement, attributed to Sola Giwa, a special adviser to Sanwo-Olu on transportation, stated:

“He reaffirmed the State Government’s ban on okada in the Local Government Areas which include Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Mushin, Apapa, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere and Eti-Osa, as well as the Local Council Development Areas under them including Ojodu, Onigbongbo, Lagos Island East, Yaba and Coker-Aguda.

“Others, according to him, are Itire-Ikate, Eti-Osa West, Iru Victoria Island, Ikoyi-Obalende, Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu, Isolo, Ejigbo, Bariga and Odi-Olowo.”

The most recent post on the sustenance of the policy was made on January 23, 2024, in which Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, stated that okada “operations in specified restricted zones, ensuring public safety and optimising the city’s transportation network, adding that the ban on commercial motorcycles (Okada) remains in force in 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 15 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) within the metropolis”.

READ ALSO: Pandemonium at Iyana Ipaja as Policeman Kills Tricycle Rider

Over the years, the okada restriction has been limited to the said local councils and the subdivisions under them. FIJ understands that Alimosho LGA, which has never been affected, has six LCDAs, namely: Ayobo/Ipaja, Alimosho, Egbe/Idimu, Agbado/Oke-Odo, Igando/Ikotun and Mosan Okunola.

Hundeyin and Gbenga Omotosho, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, did not respond to requests for comments on Thursday. While Hundeyin responded with a programmed list of phone numbers available to address police misconducts and did not respond to a WhatsApp message, Omotosho asked FIJ to send a text, but he hasn’t responded as of press time.

CONCLUSION: The Lagos State Police Command’s claim that its officers were enforcing the existing order prohibiting the activities of commercial okada riders in Ipaja before the clash broke out is false.