OKADA BAN: LAGOS TASK FORCE NOT INVOLVED IN THE SHOOTING AT SECOND RAINBOW - CSP JEJELOYE

Read Time:1 Minute, 55 Second

On Tuesday, the Lagos State taskforce in a statement signed by Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, the Director, Press & Public Affairs mentioned that the agency was not involved in the shooting which occured on Monday, at Second Rainbow leading to the death of an unidentified person.

The statement reads, “Lagos State Taskforce has been made aware of a rumored allegation that agency employees engaged in a shootout at the Second Rainbow Bus Stop in Amuwo Odofin yesterday during an enforcement for compliance exercise intended to target Okada operators and resulted in the death of one unidentified person.

The operation that was conducted yesterday was flawless and seamless up until the time when the crew left the site, according to the Chairman of the Agency, CSP Shola Jejeloye, who also directed the operation.

“Activities of the Lagos State Taskforce are carried out with the highest degree of civility and caution because we are dealing with human lives in our operations. We have been to Second Rainbow more than three times this year to carry out enforcement operations and have never recorded any injuries, talk more of loss of life. There was no provocation at all during yesterday’s exercise so the claim that we fired live ammunition at Okada operators is completely false”.

In addition, CSP Shola Jejeloye said that although traffic enforcement operations are not friendly to people, the agency nonetheless ensures that people’s lives and property are protected because moving violations are not considered crimes.

“We operate on the principle that it is preferable to let 20 traffic offenders get away with it than to let one innocent person perish.” The state’s prohibition on okada operators has seen a high degree of compliance, so there is no need for us to fire live rounds at innocent okada operators, I told my officers and men last week.

The most we can do if things become heated up is shoot teargas canisters into the air to disperse them.

Live ammunition being fired is excessive and was not done by an Agency employee. “The stray bullet may have come from other security personnel (not from Lagos State Taskforce) who raced into the mob after we departed,” Jejeloye claimed, citing an eyewitness.

The Chairman pledged to continue working to keep the State secure, clean, and livable for everybody.