Okada riders protest extortion by govt officials in Ondo state

Hundreds of commercial motorcyclists, popularly called okada, rode into the streets of Akure, the Ondo state capital, on Thursday to protest the alleged extortion by the officials of the Ondo State Ministry of Transport.

The Okada riders, who rode on major streets and roads in Akure, called on the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to reverse a new order directing them to obtain new number plate on each of their motorcycles at the rate of N10,000, describing the new number plates and other charges by the state government as “exploitative.”

Armed with placards with various inscriptions such as,

‘Mimiko must go; we are tired of this government’,  

‘Tofowomo is a thief’ and so on the okada riders started the demonstration from the entrance of the Ministry of Works on Oyemekun Road.

For several hours, business activities were totally paralysed as the popular Oba Adesida, Oluwatuyi and Hospital Roads, among others, were blocked by the protesters, causing huge traffic.

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It was said that all efforts made by the state Chairman of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Riders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Jimoh Obabi, to calm the protesters fell on deaf ears because they said he had been allegedly compromised.

 

One of the protesters, Akiola Olumide, explained that the government had come up with a policy banning all number plates used by commercial motor bikes that were not from Ondo State. He said:

“They say we can no longer use plate numbers from other states but the one designed in the state with a red line. That means those who are arrested with such number plates are being made to pay N5,000, a compulsory N2,000 for ‘Card Igbeayo’ and another N700 before the bike will be released.

“Our leaders have been trying to get the government to change the policy, but they refused, “ he said.

In his reaction, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Union Matters, Mr. Dayo Fadahunsi, said that the state government took the decision for security reasons, following the spate of kidnapping and robbery incidences in the state capital recently.

 

He explained that the decision was reached at a meeting with the leaders of the association, adding that the government had ordered the release of all seized Okadas and has given all Okada operators till next Friday to get the new commercial number plates.

 

He however described as false the allegation that they were asked to pay N17,000 to get a new plate number, saying a new commercial number plate only cost N6,000.

 

 

Punch