OKADA ACCIDENTS KILLED 107 IN TWO YEARS.

Lagos State Government said no fewer than 619 people were either killed or seriously injured in commercial motorcycle accidents across the state in the last two years.

The government explained that the figure was from the state Traffic Management Authority’s record. A statement by the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, added that records from the Planning and Research Department of LASTMA showed that out of the number, 107 people died while 512 sustained serious injuries as a result of the accidents.

It said those who died in the two years were 71 males and 36 females.

The statement read in part, “Details of the accidents between January 2011 and October 2012 further revealed that a total of 442 commercial motorcycles, popularly called okada, were involved in accidents across the state during the period out of which 271 occurred in 2011 while 171 occurred in 2012.

“Also according to the records, in 2011 alone, 47 were killed and 98 others sustained serious injuries while from January 2012 to date 63 people have been killed while 59 others sustained serious injuries.”

The government added that police records showed that a total of 513 fatal accidents recorded in the state in the last two years were caused by okada operators.

According to the record, out of this number 305 happened between January and December 2011 while 208 of the fatal accidents happened between January and June 2012.

“The record also revealed that of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in the state between the months of July and September this year, 22 of them involved the use of commercial motorcycles. Details, according to the record, show that of eight robberies that occurred in July, seven involved the use of okada while okada was also used in 10 out of 14 robberies in September and in five out of eight robberies in August,” the statement said.

It added that the state government promulgated the Lagos Road Traffic Law to address some of the security challenges by restricting operators of commercial motorcycles to certain areas in the metropolis among other reasons.

The statement said government only restricted okada operations to some areas to regulate traffic and reduce avoidable accidents and loss of life on roads.”