Lagos Taskforce impounded 11,300 okadas, crushed 11,180 in 2021 ― Jejeloye

The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Taskforce) has said that no fewer than 11,300 okadas were impounded last year, out of which 11,180 were crushed.

Stating this at the agency’s headquarters in Oshodi, Lagos, the Chairman, CSP Shola Jejeloye, assured that Lagos State is going to become uninhabitable to recalcitrant Okada riders who are hell-bent on frustrating the effort of the government in sanitizing its highways and environment.

Taking a look at the achievements of the agency in the previous year, Jejeloye said that it had also impounded 5,520 vehicles for various degrees of offences including driving on BRT corridor, one-way, dangerous driving and traffic obstruction, while the owners of the vehicles were charged to court according to the severity of the crimes committed on the roads.

He disclosed that suspects arrested for committing varying degrees of crime in the year 2021 came up to a total of 9,664, adding that they were also charged to court accordingly.

Currently, he said that his team has carried out a series of raids on black spots, illegal okada parks and also made arrests of traffic offenders at Cele Bus Stop and Ogba where 84 okadas and 20 tricycles were impounded for flouting the state governments rules and regulations of plying restricted routes in the state.

All these, he said were done in a bid to rid the state of any form of miscreants, environmental laws offenders, individuals with criminal intents and also entrench sanity in the system.

Jejeloye vowed that the agency will leave no stone unturned in carrying out proper environmental monitoring and cleansing of shanties just as he did last year in clearing up shanties at Lekki Coastal Road, shanties at Railway Line, Ijora, shanties along White Sand, Breweries and shanties at Iwaya in Yaba axis of Lagos.

“These shanties were built haphazardly without any form of environmental provision for waste disposal or drainage channels. That is the reason you see most of these areas are flooded and overwhelmed whenever it rains. We will not condone it any longer,” Jejeloye said.

Jejeloye pointed out that wetlands, which are very common attributes of a coastal state like Lagos, if not properly managed, could worsen the flooding usually experienced during the rainy season. “We have to make sure they are not encroached upon by illegal occupants that is the reason we partnered with other MDAs to reclaim wetlands like Odo-Iyalaro,” he stated.

Illegal mechanic workshops located at almost every corner in Lagos were not left out as CSP Jejeloye hinted that he has put in place a team of officers who are going to carry out extensive surveillance of key areas where most of these workshops are located and ensure that they are not just dislodged but the operators will also be charged to court for flouting the state’s environmental laws.

Jejeloye noted that illegal workshops in the nook and crannies of the state obstruct traffic in most of the inner roads, while indiscriminate disposal of waste holds sway.

He said: “We had dislodged them at Maryland, Apapa, Surulere, Lawanson and other areas of the State last year, and we will do more this year”.

The chairman hinted that ‘Operation Kogberegbe’ which was launched last year is still in force, adding that he would make sure that the state achieves its zero tolerance for criminal elements, blackspots, Okada operation on restricted routes, and other environmental law offenders until the state free from being undermined by anyone.

“The focus of this year is a partnership for development with other enforcement agencies of the state was highlighted by the chairman who urged the public to furnish the agency with any useful information that would help in apprehending defaulters of the law.

“If you see something, say something. We can only achieve these goals through a collective and combined efforts of the public and the Agency to help the State achieve and maintain its desired status,” Jejeloye noted.

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