The commercial motorcycle riders, popularly called okada, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on Thursday commenced strike over the alleged theft of a passenger’s manhood.
The state Chairman of the Okada Riders Association, Mallam Umar Muhammed, who revealed this while speaking with newsmen, said they resolved to embark on the strike due to the allegations.
According to him, many members have been unjustly attacked by passengers, who after refusal to pay fares, turn around and accuse them of stealing manhoods.
He said that passengers picked by their riders often raised the alarm of missing manhoods when they got to their destination, leading to the physical assaults on okada riders.
“Some of the passengers when they don’t have money to pay, they raise alarm that their manhood is missing so that they will not pay. Instead of them to take the issue to the police, they will take laws into there hands and beat up the commercial rider. Later, the people say that there manhood has returned back to his body,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to security agencies and the state government to look into the issue to avoid any further escalation that could lead to civil unrest in the state.
Recall that, last week in Kogi state, some suspected ritualists were arrested, especially within Lokoja for allegedly stealing male organs from their victims.
In a bid to calm the tense situation, the Kogi State Police Command, through its Public Relations Officer, SP William Ovye Aya, issued a statement on Wednesday night appealing to the general public to remain calm, adding that anyone caught disturbing the public peace will be prosecuted.
