By Sandra Ijeoma Okoye
There is no denying the fact that the headline of this piece will arouse the curiosity of anyone that reads; either in a concentrating manner or from a passing glance, particularly as it contained the word “War”. To me, the enforcement of Okada ban in Lagos State is reminiscent of a war situation as casualties are beginning to be recorded. It is a war when seen from the perspective of the fact that members of the Task Force constituted to that effect have started firing live bullets on Okada riders as they are overzealous, taking laws into their hands, and taking actions the government never directed them to carry out.
In the bid to ensure that the ban of Okada in the State is accomplished as planned following rising cases of menace and nuisance constituted by Okada riders, it would be recalled in this context that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced a total ban on Okada on all highways across six Local Government Areas (LGAs) and nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDA), of the State. The ban which took effect from June 1, 2022, saw the Governor directing security operatives to enforce the proscription order in some councils that cut across Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Surulere, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Apapa, while the total ban order also extends to all LCDAs under the listed councils.
It would also be recalled that Sanwo-Olu who gave out the directive at a meeting with Commissioner of Police, Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja on May 19, 2022 never directed that overzealous policemen should be co-opted into the Task Force that would be responsible for the enforcement of the law that legalizes the ban.
Though Sanwo-Olu directed the police to enforce the order without compromise, sternly warning that the State Government would not condone any security formation that relaxes the new ban in its jurisdiction, but he never directed that the task force should kill Okada riders with live bullets. Rather, he said: “After critical review of our restriction on Okada activities in the first six Local Government Areas where we restricted them on February 1, 2020, we have seen that the menace has not abated.
“We are now directing a total ban on Okada activities across the highways and bridges within these six Local Government and their Local Council Development Areas, effective from June 1, 2022.
“This is a phased ban we are embarking on this period, and we expect that within the short while when this ban will be enforced, Okada riders in other places where their activities are yet to be banned can find something else to do.
“We have given the notice now and we expect all commercial motorcycles plying the routes in the listed councils and areas to vacate the highways before enforcement begins. The enforcement will be total.”
Given the tone of the forgoing paragraphs, you may have asked, “Why is this writer saying the governor never at any time directed member of the constituted task force on Okada ban to kill motorcycle riders”. The answer to the foregoing question cannot be farfetched as one unidentified person, on Monday afternoon, July 25, 2022, was feared dead after he was hit by a stray bullet, when men of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences Unit clashed with Okada riders at Mile-2 area and Rainbow Bus-stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos.
In fact, the resort to firing live bullets on Okada riders, particularly in this particular case cited in the foregoing paragraph, is what compelled me to express this view, coupled with the desire to add my voice to those of many Nigerians, particularly Lagosians, who have vehemently condemned the firing of live bullets on unarmed Okada riders.
At this juncture, it is expedient to say that some of the Okada riders resorted to riding motorcycles for commercial purposes in the bid to earn a living. However, in as much as this piece is not in any way been expressed to exonerate some of them from hiding under the legal business of riding Okada to perpetrate crime in the State, it is unfortunate that virtually everyone riding Okada, among who are graduates that could not secure white collar jobs, after several years of graduating from university and polytechnics are generally pigeonholed to be criminals.
Be that as it may, my concern in this context is to urge the Lagos State Government to address this “stray bullets” trajectory the enforcement of the law on Okada ban has taken, and which is gruesomely characterizing the enforcement of Okada ban in the State. According to Wikipedia, a stray bullet is one that after being fired from the gun, hits an unintended target. Such a shooting accident may occur during crossfire or celebratory gunfire. Well aware that most people who are killed or injured by stray bullets are unaware of the events leading to the gunfire that caused their injuries, just as in the case that occurred at Second Rainbow on Monday, may the Almighty Gpd grant the soul of the departed eternal peace.
Reiteratively put, victims of stray bullets are usually unwary bystanders and onlookers, who have no opportunity whatsoever to flee or take any preventive measure.
Against this background, let the government call the men and women in uniform that constitute the Task Force to order, for they are the biggest culprits for being overzealous by taking law into their hands, particularly as I am very sure that the government did not direct them to start killing Okada riders in the State.
After all, from their training, I suppose they should have being oriented on shooting a bullet at no specific target. Truly and as night follows day, a bullet fired at no specific target, unless directed to empty space, will be stopped by a given object. And if fired at a crowd, I wonder whether it still amounts to a stray bullet! To anyone that is conversant with second rainbow, he or she should understand that it is typically a very busy area. When fired towards a residential area, school or office blocks, then the object that stops that bullet will be a passerby or an onlooker as happened on Monday in the case of the unknown man that was shot, and whose case necessitated this write-up.
However, it may not be long before it comes home, my dear uniformed trigger happy friends! I don’t know how you would feel if the object that stops that bullet is your father, mother, sister or uncle. In fact, I am waiting for the leadership of the State Government to call overzealous enforcers of the law on Okada ban in the State to order, and unmistakably tell them that “No life must be lost through such irresponsible actions”.
Painfully enough, what hurts even more is the fact that the family of the ‘Rainbow Stray-bullet’ incident will be left grappling with hopelessness in terms of justice since the perpetrators will never be brought to book; going by similar incidents in the past. Without justice, stray bullets will continue altering the nature of life to the victims’ families and their neighborhood by creating fear and anxiety in the population. If creating fear among the population is not the motive of the enforcement of the law, then Lagos State Government should prevail on members of the Task Force to stop them from using live bullets in enforcing the ban of Okada as a means of transportation in the state. As a State, we have the capacity to be tough or civil in our actions.
