How Lagosians ‘stood by me’ when the police seized my power bike over okada ban

Nmutaka Chikwendu, a resident of Lagos, on Thursday, narrated how he was arrested by the police for driving a power bike.

The state government had enforced the restriction of commercial tricycles and motorcycles in 15 local councils on February 1.

The restriction has been generating different reactions, with many accusing the government of failing to provide alternative plans to mitigate the effect of the ban on commuters.

Chikwendu, who took to Facebook to narrate his experience, said he was on his way to work when he was arrested by the police for allegedly flouting the law.

Consequently, a large crowd had gathered to defend him while querying the police if power bikes were also included in the ban.

He noted that the officers could not respond to this but maintained that “they sent us signal to arrest all bikes”, even after “a good Samaritan” showed them the state government’s broadcast on the ban which they allegedly refused to read.

“So…..I was heading to work this morning dodging massive potholes and meandering through heavy traffic. The Nigerian Police decided to arrest me because ‘bikes are banned’,” he wrote.

“The 2 things that stood out for me the most were: 1. The speed with which a huge crowd built up. Within a short while people were yelling at the cops. “Is this one okada”?

“How unintelligent our cops are. A team of 4 senior officers with guns could not say anything meaningful beyond “they sent us signal to arrest all bikes”.

“A good Samaritan parked his car…showed them the broadcast sent by Lagos state police command. They refused to read it. He then called the numbers in the broadcast and the policemen refused to speak with their superiors.

“The man put his phone on speaker and we could all hear the police command asking if it was okada and the whole crowed roared “No!” Our street crew cops refused to budge.”

Chukwendu said the “Samaritan” eventually called the divisional police officer (DPO) of Ifako police station who ordered them to release him while the crowd refused to leave until the order was effected.

“They started looking for one Officer Ojo of Ifako police station who took my bike key and went away,” Chukwendu said.

“Crowd kept building…..policemen became scared. Tried to disperse crowd. People refused to budge. I actually started getting worried and started asking people to leave. They said they wouldn’t move until I was released.

“Eventually the Ojo fellow sauntered out with my key and I started my bike….revved it a few times which drew cheers from the crowd…..and continued heading to work.”