By ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH
IKEJA — Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, Tuesday, said the failure to have state police in the country was a factor militating against curbing the excess and insurgency of terrorism.

Ipaye added that there was a bill before the state House of Assembly to regulate the activities of Okada drivers in the state.

He said state police will address the challenges of security in the country, because each state will have the power to deal directly with issues affecting security of its people without recourse to the Federal Government.

On the recent judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, restraining the state from interfering with the activities of Okada riders in the state, he said, the bill, when passed into law, will specify areas where Okada riders will operate and where they will not.

He said: “The bill is now before the state Assembly for consideration. The court did not say that Lagos cannot ban or regulate the activities of Okada riders. What the judgment of the court said was that there must be a law in place before this can be done.”

Ipaye said the demand for the release of about 8,000 motorcycles allegedly seized by the  government by Okada riders “amount to playing to the gallery.”

He said the government cannot be held responsible for motorcycles seized by security agents such as the police for the disobedience to traffic rules by their operators.