Earlier today, there was pandemonium at Iyana Ipaja axis of Lagos State, with residents who were joined by hoodlums to cause mayhem. There were bonfir
Earlier today, there was pandemonium at Iyana Ipaja axis of Lagos State, with residents who were joined by hoodlums to cause mayhem. There were bonfires in strategic places, private vehicles and BRT buses being destroyed, one Lagos State Transport Management Agency vehicle and two Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps patrol bicycles were burnt by the hoodlums. The windscreen of a police patrol vehicle was also damaged. An Inspector of police, Salifu Umar was injured by the hoodlums and was rushed to hospital.
Trouble started when officials of the Lagos state task force broke into apartments at Aboru area of Iyana-Ipaja of the state to seize motorcycles. The incident, which happened at Raji Rasaki street in the area, sparked off violence as youths lit bonfires and formed barricades in the street. The youths wielding sticks protested against the action.
The task force team seized 10 motorcycles from an apartment. Mohammed Mohammed, one of the protesters, said the officials broke the gate to a house and shot in the air before taking away the motorcycles.
“We didn’t expect to see them because we are not working with our okada. We were inside the house when they broke in and took away our okada with force. We will not stop burning tires until we retrieve our okada. They beat us when we didn’t do anything to them. We are going to fight back,” he said.
The chaos spread to Iyana-Ipaja bus stop around Abule-Egba where protesters were tear-gassed by the task force. While the policemen were trying to disperse the protesters, which got hijacked by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, fired bullets in the crowd, hit and hit a school girl in the process.
At the end of the day, the Lagos State Police Command arrested 34 suspects for allegedly attacking some of its personnel at Iyana Ipaja in Lagos, following the ban on motorcycles and tricycles on some routes by the state government. Also, 86 motorcycles were impounded at Aboru area of Iyana Ipaja.
The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, said that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, condemned the attack on police officers carrying out their lawful duties. He said Odumosu vowed that the perpetrators of the acts would face the full weight of the law, adding that the suspects would be charged to court.
The state government had banned okada and tricycle operations along major highways and roads in the state.
