Motorcyclists go on rampage

Lagos - Commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, on Wednesday evening went on rampage around Akowonjo area of Lagos Metropolis, shortly after  one of them was crushed  to death by an articulated vehicle. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the deceased, simply identified as Rahman,  was trying to evade  police arrest on a restricted  road in the area when he rode into the track of the fast moving vehicle. The protesting commercial motorcyclists, numbering about 100, blocked Akowonjo road, causing a traffic gridlock in the area for hours. An eye witness told NAN that the deceased,who was also a tailor,was coming from his shop around the Shasha end of the road when  he met his death. "He had only gone to make a U-turn from the Akowonjo roundabout when policemen started pursuing him and in his haste to evade arrest, the trailer (an articulated vehicle) hit him and crushed his head. He died instantly. "One of the policemen pursuing him, while trying to run away from the scene, had one of his legs hit by a vehicle from the opposite side of the road. "Other okada riders in the area, seeing what had happened, immediately blocked road and went after the policemen seen in the area," he said. It took  the intervention of a combined team of regular and anti-riot policemen, accompanied by an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), to restore normalcy to the area.   The team of policemen was led by the Commander of " Area M" command,, Idimu, ACP,Ibrahim Kaoje. Kaoje, while calming frayed nerves, described  the incident as unfortunate and implored the protesting riders and sympathisers not to take the laws into their own hands.