, Rotimi Amaechi, has come out to say that he fully understands why Babajide Sanwo-Olu banned commercial motorcycles in his state.
Rotimi, who governed oil-rich Rivers from 2007 to 2015 said he battled an identical issue when he was governor.
According to him, at some point, okadas, especially, were used to rob and kidnap people in the state and they could not be arrested because the security agencies chasing them were using cars.
He added that he had to take the step to ban them completely for peace to reign in his state.
His words, “Speaking as a former governor, when I was in Rivers State, they were using motorcycles to rob and kidnap people; and the police could never get them because they were using cars; so I banned motorcycles and we had peace. The number of accidents was also high – the orthopedic hospital was full every day.”
“I don’t know the reason why the governor of Lagos state banned it; only he can tell you. I am sure he made his decision based on the interests of a majority of Lagosians. But he has a problem to face, which is unemployment and increase in crime,”
“Implementation of transport policy is essentially a state affair. So you can’t be telling a state whether they want ‘okada’ or tricycles or not. That’s not our responsibility. It is for the state government to decide what to do.”
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