The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, yesterday, said 11,300 motorcycles popularly called, Okadas were impounded, while 9,664 suspects were arrested for committing different degrees of crimes in 2021.
According to the agency, out of the 11,300 Okadas seized, 11,180 of them were crushed during the year under review and the arrested suspects were also charged to court.
The chairman of the Agency, Shola Jejeloye, who disclosed this, stressed that the state government is determined to sanitise its highways and environment.
Jejeloye said that the agency 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 said the task force has carried out series of raids on black spots, illegal Okada parks and also arrested traffic offenders at Cele Bus Stop and Ogba, where 84 Okadas and 20 tricycles were impounded for flouting government rules and regulations of plying restricted routes in the state.
Jejeloye further assured residents that government will carry out proper environmental monitoring and cleansing of shanties at Railway Line, Ijora, shanties along White Sand, Breweries, shanties at Iwaya in Yaba axis and other areas.
He said: “These shanties were built haphazardly without any form of environmental provision for waste disposal or drainage channels. That is the reason most of these areas are flooded and overwhelmed whenever it rains. We will not condone it any longer. Wetlands, which are very common attributes of a coastal state like Lagos, if not properly managed, could worsen the flooding usually experienced during rainy seasons. 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.
“Illegal workshops in nook and crannies of the state obstructing traffic on our inner roads, disposing of their waste indiscriminately and polluting the environment. We had dislodged them at Maryland, Apapa, Surulere, Lawanson and other areas of the state last year, and we will do more this year.
He also said the agency will partner with other security agencies to enhance service delivery and urged the public to provide the agency with any useful information that would help in apprehending defaulters of the law.
