A yet to be ascertained number of persons have sustained injuries following a stampede in the Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
This happened after policemen attempted to enforce the state government ban on the activities of commercial motorcycle operators popularly known as Okada riders.
The state government had on Wednesday issued a total ban on the activities of the Okada riders in six local government areas of the state over the killing of a sound engineer, David Imoh, at Lekki.
The affected LGAs are Ikeja, Surulere, Eti Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa LGAs.
Sanwo-Olu decried activities of some miscreants who use motorcycles for their abominable activities.
“It is unfortunate that Okada riders are banned from Kano and Kaduna States while they ride with impunity in Lagos despite the ban by the government,” he said.
Investigations indicate that policemen from Onireke Police Station, Ojo, had impounded between 100 and 115 commercial motorcycles operating along the Mile 2 – Badagry expressway, an action which the riders resisted.
The riders attempted to overrun the station and possibly set free some of their members who were earlier apprehended by the policemen.
Pandemonium struck when some of the aggrieved riders set fire in the middle of the road, while owners of vehicles abandoned theirs by the road side. The resulting stampede saw pedestrians fleeing for fear of being caught up in the crossfire.
The incident caused heavy vehicular movement on both sides of the road.
Policemen stormed the location and fired several shots into the air to disperse the commercial motorcycle operators, the riders themselves pelted the officers with stones, daring the policemen to come after them.
A combined team of anti-riot policemen and some soldiers have been deployed to restore normalcy in the area.
