KWARTMA: Police arrest 6 as Okada riders protest alleged extortion
- Yetunde Toluyemi
- Jul 9, 2015
- 3 min read
No fewer than six Motorcycle Riders known as Okada Riders were yesterday arrested in Ilorin by men of the Kwara State Police Command for reportedly embarking on protest against the alleged extortion by officials of the Kwara State Road Traffic Management Agency (KWARTMA).
National Pilot gathered that some Okada riders gathered at the Unity Roundabout to mobilise their colleagues on the need to allegedly attack KWARTMA's headquarters over what they called '' extortion, intimidation and harassment, by the agency's personnel.
The protest, which started around 11am, saw the protesters through the Gaa-Iman of the agency with some of them allegedly brandishing various weapons.
However, the protesting Okada Riders met a stiff resistance from the operatives of the state's police command Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARs), who barricaded the agency's entrance and effected arrest of some of the protesters.
This medium gathered that about six protesters were reportedly arrested.
One of the arrested protesters, Tunde Adekunle, a resident of Oloje and registered member of Gbobaniyi one unit, said he didn't know that his colleagues when he was 'instructed' to join them.
''I picked a passenger from post office who was going to Olaolu and I discovered that some guys came and turned off the ignition of my bike; and instructed me to follow their cliques. I know they were Okada riders but I didn't know what they were up to.
"When we got closer to the KWARTMA's office, I started hearing gunshots and I tried to run away but I fell down from my bike, I never knew they came here to fight", he claimed.
Adekunle, who was reportedly seen with a cutlass denied the ownership and claimed that he helped one of the protesters to keep it.
Also, Abdulakeem Afolàbi, who was among those arrested for the protesters, blamed himself for his actions.
‘‘I am from Nafsat park. I picked a passenger from Oja Oba who was going to Unity and I was also stopped by some Okada riders, who instructed me to follow them to KWARTMA office, I made a mistake for not asking them what we were going to KWARTMA's office for. But, I just followed them sheepishly", he said.
However, the state's Okada Riders Association has denied the involvement of its members in the protest, arguing that those arrested were not its members.
The association’s Task Force Chairman, Abdulakeem Afolami, who spoke to this medium yesterday, said: “In our association, we have a very good relationship with KWARTMA, but I am surprised that some people are protesting. These people are not bonafide members of our association because our members will not protest."
Meanwhile, the KWARTMA's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Yekini Babatunde Bello, denied the extortion allegation leveled against the agency.
He said: ''This is the fifth time that some riders would be attacking our office and this time around, I was informed by my men that some Okada riders are trying to gain entrance into the premises and they were chanting KWARTMA".
"I immediately called the DPO of "A" division to deploy some men here to stay at the gate. The officers had been the one hindering them from entering the premises. At KWARTMA, we don't just seize motorcycles if an individual does not violate the traffic rules.
'Secondly, I heard them say we arrest only motorcycles and not cars. We arrest car owners too it just because they can only see motorcycles at the back of our patrol vehicles,"
"Some of the Okada Rider Union's Excos are here to help us fight them, infact they were the ones who caught the six that were arrested, which means, we have not been arresting them unjustly”.
When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the arrest made during the protest, but could not confirm the number of the suspects nabbed.
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