Okada Riders Responsible for Lagos' High Crime Rate - CP Odumosu Urged State Government To Take Drastic Measures Against Their Notoriety ~ PressTv

According to Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, hoodlums had found okada as a veritable means of escape from the scenes of crime.

“Statistics have shown that armed hoodlums who operate on Okada, are responsible for bulk of the crimes in Lagos State”

According to him, crime reports from the field in the last five months have shown that the hoodlums are responsible for armed robbery, cultism, kidnapping, murder, burglary and stealing, among others.

In his words, it has also been established that Okadas are being illegally used as a veritable means of conveying hard drugs from one point to another, as the consequences of spreading of hard drugs and its consumption are better imagined than said.

Odumosu made this known while appraising the security situation in the state at a stakeholders’ meeting in Ikeja.

The police chief said traffic robbery, carjacking, movement of arms and cash-snatching from bank customers had been traced to armed hoodlums who operate on Okada. He said a large section of Lagos populace had come to regard okada as a necessary evil, hence, government should take more drastic measures against their notoriety.

Odumosu said, in the five months under review, January to May, one hundred and ninety-two Okada riders had died from two hundred and eighty accidents.
In his words, the number of deaths recorded in road accidents and crime committed with the use of Okada across the state, had assumed a worrisome dimension as the statistics had continued to rise.

He said it was a common sight in Lagos metropolis to see Okada operators ride recklessly on highways, facing oncoming road users, especially during peak periods.

He urged the state government to provide further stringent measures that would curtail the excesses of commercial motorcycle operators.

©NAN