PORT OPERATIONS : NAGAFF Chieftain Says Crime, Accident Dropped Over Ban Of Okada, Tricycle 

Barely seventeen days of the directive on Okada and Keke Napep stoppage, a freight forwarder, Dr. Fred Ajuzie has commended efforts by the Lagos State Government ban on motor bikes and tricycles in some of the highways and particularly the port community.

The freight forwarder also stated that issues bothering on insecurity and accidents along the port corridors dropped as a result of the ban.

Dr.Ajuzie , a former Chairman , Apapa Chapter National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) noted that during the peak of okada and keke napap operations within Apapa and it’s environs there was high rate of accidents of agents, shippers and other maritime players but maintained that the stories surrounding such incidences have reduced .

According to him, a colleague was recently robbed million of naira and eventually shot by robbers on motorcycles having traced him from a bank where he went to collect money for his boss.

He further attributed the attack on the agent to the uncontrollable activities of the Okada riders.

The NAGAFF Chieftain also commended the Lagos State Governor,Babajide Sanwo Olu and his deputy , for the innovation and strategic planning to reduce accident and crime related stories perpetrated by the operators.

Ajuzie who is the Managing Director Pat-Fuze Nigeria Limited, said: “Okada is the means of movement within this locality because of the gridlock faced in Apapa,so people use Okada as a means of transportation which for me is not the best thing.

“The truth is a lot people have been injured, a lot people have been hospitalized as a result of Okada. So for me I support the ban of okada ,I suppose the ban on Keke because they use these bikes to rob people .

“The good side of the ban is better than the bad ones. Let us look at it from the other way round; If you get to the banks within Apapa with an Okada rider there is the tendency that the bike man might trace you with his bike if such a person has evil intention. But for now I don’t think such thing will happen as a result of the ban.

“A colleague of mine was shot in Apapa, six million was collected from him by some Okada riders. So is that what we should be sad about because they were taken off the highways by the state government?

“Okada should be abolished ,there is should be stringent measures to enforce and implement the ban mostly in Apapa and anyone caught should be sent to jail because it’s not good to the port system.

“We have outgrown Okada existence in the port community and it doesn’t hamper my business in anyway.

He called on the government to deploy other means of transportation to Apapa and further expedite actions to complete the ongoing road reconstruction within the Apapa Oshodi expressway in Lagos.

Recall that the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu recently ban Okada and Keke Napep from some major highways of the state .

By Roland Ekama, Lagos