Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday reconstituted a 32-man security committee to determine the future of motorcycle operators (okada riders) in the State.
Fashola, while inaugurating the committee at the Conference Room of the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja lamented that the reports he received on accidents and robbery cases on okada in the last two months were alarming and unacceptable.
The governor, who gave the committee three-weeks to come up with proper sanctions, urged it to look at the challenges further operations of okada posed on the economy of the State, safety and security of residents.
He noted that the excuse of taking up okada riding to make ends meet and keep body and soul together was not acceptable and said that the government remained committed to ensuring the protection of lives and properties of its citizenry.
He lamented that the restrictions on okada operations in some parts of the state and on highways had not yielded any results and pointed out that the method used by other states in curbing their lawlessness may be adopted.
Fashola, who gave startling statistics of accident and robbery cases in the last two months revealed that 2911 traffic violations, 79 robbery incidents and 179 accident cases were perpetrated by okada operators.