A 38-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Mr Sunday Udoh, on Monday stripped himself naked to evade arrest by the law enforcement agents for violating the new Lagos State Traffic Law.
Mr Bayo Sulaiman, Chairman, Lagos State Task Force for Special Offences, told newsmen in Lagos that Udoh was conveying a passenger on ACME road, Ikeja, at about 10.00 a.m., when the incident happened.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ACME road was one of the 475 roads where commercial motorcyclists were restricted from operating by the new Lagos Traffic Law.
Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had on Aug. 2 signed the Lagos Road Traffic Bill into law.
He said that the law was in a bid to ensure safety and orderly flow of traffic in the state.
Fashola reeled out statistics to illustrate the alarming rise in accident rates, resulting in injuries and death, from the unrestricted operations of commercial motorcyclists.
The new law spells out the offences and punishments attached.
Sulaiman said, “Our enforcement team caught up with Udoh operating on ACME road this morning.
“As our patrol vehicle approached him, he jumped off his motorcycle, not minding the safety of his passenger, and stripped himself naked.
“He obviously acted that way to draw public sympathy and evade arrest.
“But, I can tell you that he is now with us and he will be charged to court tomorrow.“
Sulaiman said that Udoh`s action showed how desperate traffic violators, especially motorcyclists, could behave to escape justice.
The chairman said that his team had recorded similar cases in the past, promising that the taskforce would not succumb to unnecessary sentiments in enforcing the traffic law.
Sulaiman urged commercial motorcyclists to comply with the provisions of the traffic law and stay off the banned routes.
“We have stepped up our enforcement of the law and we are warning those who intend to violate the law to stay off the banned routes in their own interest.
`We have made a few arrests and seized a good number of motorcycles.
“We even carry out enforcement in the night. We will not relent in our efforts to sanitise the roads, nothing will stop us,“ he said.