Commercial motorcyclists in Ogun state have rejected the government directive to register at the state’s designated registration points within ten days or risk arrest.
Some of the riders while speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta said the registration fee imposed by the government was insensitive and outrageous.
According to Mr. Rafiu Akanbi and Michael Sote, the imposition of the levy on the riders was a plot to multiply the taxes already on them.
They called on the government to reduce the associations collecting dues from the riders.
Also speaking, another rider Mr. Kunle Adelaja, said the government should pay more attention to fixing the deplorable roads in the state before considering the imposition of the high registration fee.
An official of the motorcyclists’ union in the state, Mr. Olalekan Sonaola, however, appealed to the riders not to take laws into their hands but to engage with their secretariat when they are facing challenges.
The Ogun State government had issued a ten-day ultimatum to the commercial motorcyclists to register their operations at registration points set up across the 20 Local government areas of the state.
The Police command in Ogun State has told both private and commercial motorcyclists to register their motorcycles with the state government on or before Friday, October 1.
The state government said it had become imperative for the government and the police to regulate the activities of motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, to check kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes.
Reporting by Wale Oluokun; Editing by Tina Oyinsan