Peter Dada, Akure
Commercial motorcyclists in Ondo town, Ondo State, on Tuesday took to the streets to protest against the arrest of their colleagues who carried two passengers by the men of the Ondo State Police Command.
It was gathered that the state police command has banned the Okada riders from carrying two passengers at a time, while scores of them who disobeyed the police order have been arrested.
The commercial motorcyclists, under the auspices of Commercial Motorcycle Transport and Riders Association, also kicked against the alleged extortion by the leadership of the association.
Protesters used their motorcycles to block some popular roads in the town, such as Yaba, Enuowa and Idi Ishin during the peaceful demonstration, thereby causing traffic logjams for several hours.
One of the protesters, Mr. John Akinbowale, said they embarked on the protest to express their grievances against the police and the leadership of the association over extortion of their members .
He said, “Our protest is not aimed at disrupting commercial activities in the community, but to express our grievances concerning some of our needs that we are being denied.
“In fact, we were very surprised when we came out this morning to commence our daily activities when policemen started arresting any rider that carried two passengers without prior enlightenment by the police.”
Addressing the protesters, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Yaba Division in Ondo town, Mrs. Regina Mogbojuri, said the decision of the police to stop them from carrying two passengers per ride was for security reason.
She added that the ban was necessary going by the rate at which criminals used motorcycles to commit crime in the town.
source: http://ift.tt/2uCLzoI
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J