For years, the Lagos State Government has engaged in a running battle with operators of commercial motorcycles known as okada over persistent disregard for road safety rules and route restrictions.

Despite regular raids and seizures of the bikes for route violations, the okada riders remain defiant. This must stop.

In August, the task force team seized 668 bikes and arrested seven suspects during a routine week-long enforcement for compliance operations led by its chairman, Adetayo Akerele.

The operation targeted Ishaga, Balogun Bus Stop on Iju-Ishaga Road, Ijegun Roundabout, Iyana-Iba, Iyana-Ishasi, Igbo-Elerin, and Iyana-School.

The team also raided Volkswagen Bus Stop on the stretch of Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Kola Bus Stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, and other restricted routes.

According to Akerele, these areas had been flagged following numerous complaints and distress calls indicating the persistent use of commercial motorcycles by suspected criminals to attack innocent people, tricycle operators, and their passengers, robbing them of valuables, particularly at night.

Apart from robberies, okada riders are notorious for disregarding traffic rules, often riding against traffic even on highways and ignoring traffic lights, sometimes resulting in avoidable accidents.

This underlines the need to enforce a statewide ban on okada to prevent further abuse.

The defiance has spread to operators of tricycles popularly known as Keke Marwa or Keke NAPEP.

This puts the lives of Lagosians at risk and constitutes a serious threat to public safety and order.

The clampdown began in 2006 when the government banned okada operations between 7 pm and 6 am.

In 2012, Governor Babatunde Fashola introduced the Lagos State Road Traffic Law. It prohibits okadas and tricycles on certain routes and restricts motorcycles with engine capacities below 200cc from major expressways. The law mandates a minimum 200cc engine for motorcycles for mail or courier services.

The state government reiterated the ban in 2015 but was largely unsuccessful. By 2017, the government added major highways and bridges to the list of restricted areas. It established the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, which came into effect in February 2018.

Section 46 (1) of the law stipulates that “no person shall ride, drive or propel a motorcycle or tricycle on a major highway within the state, and any person in contravention of this provision commits an offence liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of three years with such motorcycle or tricycle forfeited to the State.”

The state government barred these transport operators from six local governments, nine LCDAs, 10 major highways, 40 bridges and flyovers with effect from February 1, 2020. Ride-hailing bikes were also added to the list when they became a nuisance.

The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has suspended its two-day strike following a meeting with the Dangote Group on Tuesday.

The National President of NUPENG, Williams Akporeha, confirmed this to our correspondent.

According to him, the Dangote refinery team led by Sayyu Dantata, agreed to unionise its drivers.

He said the meeting was summoned by the Department of State Services.

“We have suspended the strike. The Dangote refinery has agreed to unionise its drivers. We signed an agreement,” Akporeha said in a telephone conversation.

It was reported that petroleum tanker drivers on Monday made good their threat to shun fuel loading due to the crisis between them and the Dangote refinery as a result of the unionisation of tanker drivers.

This was despite an appeal by the Federal Government that they shelve the plan.

In some parts of the country, filling stations were also closed by NUPENG members. The Aradel refinery in Obele, Port Harcourt, was shut. The Kwale Hydrocarbon facility in Delta State was shut.

NUPENG had on Friday declared its intention to stop loading fuel this week over allegations that the Dangote refinery planned to ban the drivers recruited for its 4,000 trucks from joining the union.

NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, on Sunday confirmed that the Federal Government had reached out to the union on the need to avert the strike. He, however, insisted that the industrial action would go ahead.

As of Monday morning, it was gathered that there was full compliance with the directive that no driver should lift fuel. Checks by one of our correspondents confirmed that activities at petroleum depots were paralysed across the country.

NUPENG officials visited the depots to enforce compliance.

In various depots across the country, especially those in Lagos and Warri, Delta State, drivers parked their trucks to wait for the next directive as far as fuel lifting was concerned.

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has summoned 13 domestic airlines to an emergency meeting over the growing number of flight delays, cancellations and affecting passengers across the country.

The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at the NCAA headquarters in Abuja, was confirmed by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his X handle on Tuesday.

This intervention comes amid rising complaints from air travelers and a series of incidents involving unruly passenger behavior at airports, a trend NCAA attributes partly to poor airline adherence to aviation rules.

In recent times, violent acts have become prominent in Nigerian airport incidents that were caused by different reasons.

While some unruly behaviours were caused by passengers’ ignorance of aviation rules, some were a result of airlines’ deliberate moves to circumvent regulations and deprive passengers of their rights.

Achimugu disclosed that the meeting would address a range of critical issues, including persistent flight delays and cancellations, Passenger handling protocols and welfare obligations, unresolved refund and compensation complaints, enforcement of safety measures like the phone switch-off directive, protection for cabin crew and NCAA officials, and the Introduction of RFID baggage tagging and real-time flight monitoring technology.

This comes barely 24 hours after the NCAA emphasised that airlines must uphold the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, particularly Part 19, which outlines specific obligations to passengers in the event of delays or cancellations, including providing hotel accommodations for stranded travelers between 10:00pm and 4:00am.

The regulatory body stated its readiness to begin “naming and shaming” airlines that consistently flout aviation rules particularly those that delay or cancel flights without due process or passenger support.

Achimugu noted that airlines cancel flights late at night without making provisions for passenger welfare, leaving NCAA consumer protection officers to manage agitated travelers. This, he said, exposes officials to unnecessary risk.

He warned that the era of leniency is over, stating, “For infractions that are sanctionable, the Authority will apply the fullest measures possible. We will not abandon the letters of our regulations.”

Achimugu, however, reiterated that while the NCAA acknowledges the challenges faced by domestic carriers, operators must meet the expected standards if they wish to be regarded as world-class.

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