Apapa, a town that thrives on motorcycling means of transportation due to its very bad access and connecting roads, was on Tuesday a ghost town as massive security presence in and around the town due to the visit of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode’s, scared away motorcycle operators popularly called Okada riders.
Many commuters were left stranded at most bus-stops in Apapa as men of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Civil Defence Corps, and the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) took over Apapa roads.
From Barracks bus-stop to Airways bus-stop, down to Creek road junction and Liverpool under the bridge, movement of Okada riders were majorly restricted to inside the Ikeja GRA area.
When the Governor arrived Apapa around 9:30 AM, most of the roads had been cordoned off for even vehicular traffic.
At the Airways bus-stop, all vehicular movement were diverted onto the Kofo Abayomi Avenue.
For many commuters, it was a bitter pill to swallow as many connected their workplace by tracking long distances along the deserted Apapa roads.
In the words of Mrs Johnson Osuji, a Customs broker, “this is what we go through in Apapa anytime a top government functionary like the Governor comes around.
” The roads are not navigable, and the only means of movement around Apapa, the Okada”s, have been banished, at least pending when Mr Governor leaves Apapa. It is that stressful.”
