A Lagos-based lawyer, Tope Akinyode, has sued the Lagos State Government over the ban on commercial tricycles (keke) and motorcycles (okada) in some parts of the state.
Premium Times reported how the Lagos government announced a ban on these vehicles in major residential and business hubs, including Ikeja, the state capital.
It said the ban became necessary for security and safety. The ban has, however, generated conflict since February 1.
A schoolgirl was hit by a stray bullet at Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, on Wednesday during a violent clash between a mob, protesting the ban and security officials.
The girl, who is yet to be identified, was promptly taken to Peak Health Hospital where she was stabilised before she was referred to the General Hospital, Orile Agege for treatment.
The state government recently deployed over 60 additional BRT buses to cushion the effects of the ban on commuters.
Suit
On Wednesday, Mr Akinyode sued the government on what he tagged its abuse of fundamental human rights.
He said by the virtue of a law titled: “Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018”, “Lagosians have been thrown into tremendous distress because the law which is being enforced places a ban on Tricycles and Motorcycles which are widely used by Lagosians as major means of transportation.”
“Challenging the law in court today, I am seeking a declaration and an injuction of court to declare the law a violation of people’s human right and an injunction to prohibit the enforcement of the law because it violates the citizen’s fundamental human right to freedom of movement and own moveable properties as enshrined under Sections 41 and 44 of the Constitution.
“It’s an insensitive piece of legislation which seeks to deprive citizens their fundamental rights to move without restraint or purchase moveable properties of their choices which the constitution allows.
“If the government feel a need to regulate vehicular movement, it should go to Apapa and remove the trailers which have turned the Apapa bridge to a parking lot and are constituting a monstrous agony to the people of Lagos State,” he said.
The lawsuit is yet to be assigned to a judge or a date for the hearing given.
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