By Demi Adeniyi
The Lagos State Taskforce led by CSP Adetayo Akerele have carried on with their mandate of restoring sanity and decorum on Lagos roads through the enforcement for compliance operations carried out at Oshodi, Ikeja and Iyana Ipaja where recalcitrant commerical bus operators had been disrupting the free flow of traffic and causing discomfort to Lagosians along those routes.
The simultaneous operations which began in the early hours of today recorded seizures of 45 vehicles along the highway, where the operators obstructed traffic and created illegal bus stops and garages for dropping and picking up passengers.
Akerele disclosed that he had carried out similar operations in these areas last week, shocked to find the mini bus operators (korope) still committing the same offense their colleagues were apprehended for just last week.
“You would think these set of danfo drivers would have learnt from the seizure of vehicles belonging to their colleagues but that is not what we have observed. They will learn the hard way eventually,” Akerele stated.
The Chairman also sounded a note of warning to other commercial bus operators scattered across other parts of the State, warning them to turn a new leaf or have their vehicles impounded.
“There will be no sacred cows in this new dispensation. I don’t care if your commercial bus is branded or tagged with intimidating stickers to escape arrest from enforcers of laws, if you cause obstruction on the highway, your vehicle will be confiscated. Lagosians will not be shortchanged by any selfish bus operator.”
In a related development, the Chairman of the Agency beemed his searchlight on street traders who have deliberately converted walkways and kerbs to mini markets along Oshodi Road, Suwebatu Street and Oshodi-Apapa Expressway contrary to the laid down environmental laws of the State.
He confiscated some goods displayed along the road and reiterated his determination to sanitize the roads and highways of any form of degradation and unapproved conversion to markets.
He warned those still in the practice of engaging in such activities in other parts of the State to pack their wares and vacate the roads, stating that it is not only harmful to the environment but also poses danger to the traders and commuters who are forced to walk on the highway due to the impedements places on approved walkways in the State.
