WE ARE ALL IN SERIOUS DANGER!
Last week, a motorist in Festac Town hit an Okada rider.
He was trying to negotiate a turn, while signalling with his blinker. Unfortunately,
the motorcycle rider was going too fast, and did not know his road signs. The
result was an accident which damaged both car and motorcycle, and injured both
rider and passenger. Before the driver of the car could come out of his car and
offer assistance to the injured, about fifty okada riders appeared out of
nowhere and descended on the driver, screaming for his blood and chanting
Islamic slogans. As onlookers stared, the Okada mob beat the driver of the car
senseless and damaged his vehicle. He only escaped with his life after he
parted with N35,000.
In December 2019, a woman was making a turn into her
compound, when a crazed Okada rider came out of nowhere and ran into her car.
When she came out of her car to assess the damage, a mob of Okada riders
attacked her and tore her clothes. By the time help came from people in the
area, her purse and phone had been stolen and her children watched in horror as
their mother was beaten and fondled by Okada hooligans. This is becoming a
regular occurrence in and around Festac area.
Who are these Okada riders? Where do they come from? Why
are there so many of them? How come we cannot identify them? Where do they
sleep at night? These are questions we have to ask ourselves, and appeal to our
government and police to answer. In the last one year the influx of Northerners
parading as commercial bike riders, trash packers, vendors of tomato, fruits
and vegetables, shoemakers, tinkers (garuwa paper), and other petty items
vendors is alarming. These men come to Lagos in droves and settle wherever with
no identification, no address, no documentation. Nobody knows their real names;
where they come from, or how to monitor them. They parade around as cart
pushers and steal drainage covers and man-hole covers, leaving gaping holes in
the road. They steal generators and air conditioning units from houses and
flats, and under the guise of bike riders, they rob innocent men and women at
night or in the early mornings. You cannot catch them because they have no
identity and no one seems to know them.
What you may find most alarming is this; they know you.
They know where you live and how many children you have, but you know nothing
about them. Most of them are not even Nigerian! They come from Niger and Chad
and sleep outside your streets or roam around at night looking for what to
steal. I overheard a group of them joking that if any of their member is
killed, they will spill blood before anyone knows what is happening. They did
not know that I understand Hausa, so they spoke freely.
If you live in or around Festac, please forward this
message to everyone you know. It’s high time we check this massive invasion and
force these people to identify themselves. Let 1966 and 1967 not repeat again,
because these men all carry weapons and are just waiting for a signal to use
them. Before my very eyes a policeman at Mile 2 tried to impound a motorcycle
for parking on the expressway, and a dozen of them drew daggers and threatened to
stab him and his colleagues. This happened on Monday at Mile 2! We are in
danger and we don’t seem to know or care. By the time this message gets to the
LG Chairman and the State Governor, perhaps they will force these men to begin
to carry ID or even reduce their huge numbers.
I am not a bigot, and I don’t have anything against any
tribe. But I value the lives of my family and neighbours, and I don’t want to
wait until something disastrous happens before I say something.
#Copied
Me: This is not happening in Lagos State alone, it has
spread all over the Southern part of the country.
Be at alert. My candid Advice
Written by:
Ngozichukwu Ada-Dav
For: Lagos State Media
Edited by:
Lolo Oby Mboma
For: Lagos State Media
Published by:
Chibuike John Nebeokike
For: Lagos State Media
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