Posted by By Abiodun Onafuye on
In fulfilment of its threat to enforce the wearing of protective helmets by commercial motorcycle operators, a.k.a. Okada riders, and their passengers, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has impounded more than 2,000 motorcyles from culprits.
In fulfilment of its threat to enforce the wearing of protective helmets by commercial motorcycle operators, a.k.a. Okada riders, and their passengers, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), has impounded more than 2,000 motorcyles from culprits.
Revealing this to P.M.News this morning, in his office, the sector head of operations, Lagos State Command of the FRSC, H.U. Omeje, said the commission would not spare any Okada rider not wearing the helmet.
On the compliance of Okada operators with the new directive, Omeje said: ''So far, so good. The compliance by the riders has been encouraging. Some of them are finding it difficult to buy the helmet. I was made to understand that the importers cannot meet the huge demand for the helmets. I can tell you that those available are being bought and used by the riders.'
On the kind of helmets to be used by the riders, Omeje accused some of the riders of using industrial helmet which is not the type approved by the government.
'We are having cases where people are buying the site helmet as motorcycle crash helmet, but we are not bothered. By the time we finish monitoring the compliance rate, there will be a lot of approved crash helmets in the market. We can then sieve the chaff from the grain. By the time we have many of the helmets in the market, there will be no excuse for them to use unapproved helmets. We will not accept inferior or unapproved helmets,' he explained
Umeje said the FRSC, alongside other law enforcement agencies in the state, have made tremendous achievements in ensuring that Okada riders comply with the directive.
'We started this campaign since last year. We have given the Okada riders enough time to buy the helmet and start using it. But you know Nigerians, they don't run for the rain until they are drenched. We will continue to arrest those who fail to comply. Those arrested will pay a fine of N2,000, until they buy it and start using it. If you are caught 10 times, you will pay N2,000 for 10 times.
'It is better for them to pack their Okada now and look for a way to buy the crash helmet. They have every opportunity, but I think they didn't take us seriously. They thought it would not work. Some people were caught unawares; they thought it is one of those government policies, but this is not just government policy. We said it with the seat belt and we did it, and we are saying it again this time around that everybody must comply with the use of safety crash helmet and we are not going to rest on our oars until we see that it is implemented,' he stated.