- By Halimah Olamide
There was pandemonium in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos on Monday as some hoodlums attempted to overrun a police station in the Iyana Ipaja area of the state.
The hoodlums who were said to be commercial motorcycle (popularly called Okada) riders, had stormed the police station to prevent officers who were on enforcement drive against Okada on Lagos major roads.
There is a ban on the use of Okada in major routes of the state.
The police command confirmed on Monday afternoon that its men stopped the hoodlums who also shot at the operatives with guns. “The attack came after police officers commenced the day’s enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State. The attackers, who came in their hundreds, stormed the station with dangerous weapons, shooting at the officers and attempting to overrun the station.
“While officers and men of the division held their ground, reinforcement came from the Area Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). Two of the attackers were fatally injured during the attack.
“However, this did not deter the officers from accomplishing their mandate as over two hundred motorcycles were impounded and some of the attackers arrested, with one locally made firearm retrieved.
“The Lagos State Police Command will not be cowed into abdicating its responsibilities of enforcement of all duly passed laws and maintenance of law and order within the society,” the police said in a statement by Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman of the command.