Group declares mass action to protest the Lagos Road Traffic Law

The banning of 'Okadas' has an adverse effect on just the riders but on all Lagosians, who are a victim of bad roads.
As Lagosians continue to groan over the effect of the new Lagos Road Traffic Law, the Joint Action Front, JAF, a coalition of Labour and Civil Society groups, has declared a mass action, on Monday, to protest the law which it described as "anti-poor and unjust".
In a statement released on Saturday, the group stated that the major issue of contention in the new law was the "fraudulent" listing of 475 inner roads in Schedule II of the law.
Commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, as well as tricycles are banned from plying the 475 inner roads and defaulters face jail terms.
"Why should a government that says it is 'progressive' make a Traffic law to jail offenders 3-years when those who daily loot our collective wealth are walking the streets and using the looted fund to undermine the law?" read the statement jointly signed by Dipo Fashina and Abiodun Aremu, Chairperson and Secretary respectively.
"Lagosians, Nigerians and patriots all over the world need to resist this unjust law, because of its consequences on the socio-economic life and security of life and property in Lagos and Nigeria in the no distant future," the statement added.
The group described the law as "fraud" since the Schedule II, which listed the inner roads, was not presented as part of the Traffic Bill during the Public Hearing.
"We have looked at the so-called law as it relates to Okada and tricycle operations and found that only three of the sub-sections in Section 3 of the law have anything to do with safety regulations.
"Banning Okada on the 475 roads is not simply about the survival of the Okada operator, it also has serious effect on millions of Lagosians.
"One of the reasons why Lagosian commuters patronize, despite the risks, is the horrible state of the roads especially in the heavily populated areas," the group said.
The group further noted that since enforcement of the law began, commuters have been going through "agonies" because of the shortage of the yellow and BRT buses, and the unaffordable taxis.
"Another reason is that taxis in Lagos are unaffordable and unlike FCT Abuja and Port Harcourt and other major cities in Nigeria where taxis charge as low as N50 – N300 per drop, in Lagos, the minimum charge per drop is not less than N600."
The mass action would commence at the Labour House, Yaba, by 8 a.m.