COVID-19 Lockdown: Why We’re Seizing Dispatch Motorcycles – Lagos Govt

Matilda Omonaiye/

Lagos State government has explained that the on-going regulation of operational activities of courier/logistics companies is not a new law but enforcement of certain aspects of the year 2012 Lagos State Traffic Law and other regulations as contained in the Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, made the clarification yesterday in Alausa, in response to concerns raised on social media that the State Government has embarked on the illegal seizure of dispatch motorcycles.

Oladeinde emphasised that sequel to the restriction order, the State Government observed a sudden rise in the number of courier/logistics operators in the state, especially after the lockdown.

He noted that investigations carried out by the ministry revealed that many commercial motorcycles had been converted to courier services without the proper documentation and registration with the appropriate authority.

He observed that the laws which exempted the operations of mail distribution and courier services with the written permission of the ministry, stipulated that “every operator must have the required operational documents from NIPOST and register in line with the TSRL, 2018”.

Oladeinde averred that the one-month ultimatum given by the state government for regularisation of documents was enough for any serious operator to fully comply as required by the law.