The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) says the compliance of commercial motorcycle (Okada) and Tricycle (Keke) operators to the ban and restriction in the state is “pretty good”.
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The LASTMA’s General Manager, Mr. Olajide Oduyoye, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday.
Oduyoye said that there would not be a fight or argument with any operator who willingly complied with the law.
He said that officers of the authority were on the ground for the enforcement of the extant law on Okada and Keke operations from today (Feb 1).
“The compliance is pretty good for the first day. We hope to see that a lot will comply more and more. Operators must keep doing what the law says.
“There is no problem; once there is compliance, there is no need for any enforcement. There is no need for any fight or any incident on the road.
“It is just for the people to just comply and that is it,” Oduyoye said.
The LASTMA boss said the enforcement was to control the unrestrained behavior and recklessness of the operators in the state which contributed to the traffic bottlenecks in the state.
The traffic manager explained that the operations of tricycle and motorcycle riders had also been creating traffic bottlenecks and chaos in the state and accused them of regularly riding against traffic.
“The difficulty we always have is this Keke and Okada riding against traffic and causing a lot of traffic chaos.
“When a minor accident happens with Keke scratching a vehicle and there is an argument, it disrupts the traffic flow.
“That made our jobs a lot more difficult. So, now that they are going to be off the major highways, our work will be much easier.
“The motorists creating traffic chaos will not have Keke or Okada to blame again
“LASTMA officers are up to the task. We are going to do our job as diligently as we are supposed to,’’ Oduyoye said.
According to him, we will operate where we are supposed to operate and work to make sure that traffic is flowing as much as possible.
“We expect that since so many junctions and corners will be free of Keke and Okada parks and loitering; when enforcement comes up, there will be better traffic flow in Lagos State from today,” Oduyoye said.
According to him, if the operators have stayed within the ambit of the law and operate within the law, there won’t be a problem as a lot of people still rely on them.
“We can see their apprehension and likely pain, but I blame the operators for misbehaving in such a way that their operations become security and safety issues.
“No responsible government will sit back and allow this to grow and to grow out of hand; which is exactly what is happening,” he added.
NAN reports that the Lagos State Government on Monday announced that it would commence enforcement of the extant Transport Sector Reform Law 2018 which banned the operation of Motorcycles (Okada) and Tricycles (Keke) in some Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with effect from Feb. 1.
They include Apapa LGA, Apapa Iganmu LCDA, Lagos Mainland LG, Yaba LCDA, Surulere LGA, Itire-Ikate, and Coker-Aguda LCDAs and Ikeja LGA,
Others are Onigbongbo and Ojodu LCDAs, Eti-Osa LGA, Ikoyi-Obalende and Iru/Victoria Island LCDAs, Lagos Island LGA and Lagos Island East LCDA.
The state government also listed highways, bridges and roads where the law also banned motorcycles and tricycles from operating in the state.