*Okada riders protest continued collection of levy
By Yinka Ajayi
Commercial motorcycle operators in Oshodi area of Lagos, otherwise known as Okada, came out en-mass to protest what they described as continued collection of levies from them by union officials in defiance of government’s ban on transport union activities in the area. The government’s ban on union activities came in the wake of the alleged murder of a top transport union official in Oshodi.
The Okada riders were seen, Saturday, chanting war songs and carrying placards and leaves. They called on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to come to their aid. In a chat with Vanguard, one of the commercial motorcycle riders, who preferred to remain anonymous, said : “Governor Akinwunmi Ambode banned ticket issuance to Okada riders in Oshodi after the death of Chief Rasaq Bello, aka Hamburger, in May 2019.” But these union leaders oftentimes make life unbearable for us. We are forced to pay N500 per day whether we work or not. We don’t even know who to obey between the miscreants or Lagos State government. If we insist not to pay, the loyalists of the union leaders will gang up against us and sometimes threaten our lives. It will be surprised to hear that sometimes the police back them because of what they are getting from them.”
Another Okada rider, who also narrated their ordeal, said: “ We cannot even feed our family, we hardly pay our house rent but these self-acclaimed union executives drive in luxurious cars, their children attend expensive private schools and build for themselves well furnished apartments in Lagos and the villages as well. So who do we blame for our predicament ? Is it the government or we ourselves?”
The protesters called on Lagos State government to come to their rescue before another violence ensues over the ticket issuance. “We cannot continue to suffer from the unjust regime invoked by union leaders trying to wreak havoc in Oshodi and Lagos at large through the issuance of tickets banned by the Gov. Ambode-led administration in Lagos.”
The post Oshodi transport union leaders defy govt ban appeared first on Vanguard News.
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