Over 130 motorbikes impounded as Okada riders return after lockdown lift

More than 130 motorcycles have been impounded by the Accra Regional Police Command as riders face prosecution.

Personnel from the command embarked on the exercise on Wednesday, April 23, to clamp down recalcitrant riders as part of measures to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

Motor riders are banned from picking a pillion rider in order to observe social distancing protocols, but shortly after President Nana Akufo-Addo lifted the lockdown, private riders, including commercial operators popularly known as Okada, flooded the city in large numbers.

Police picked up the riders in a swoop in and around Tudu, Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, Ministries, UTC, Kimbu and Tema Station, for breaching the social distancing directive, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs Effia Tenge, said on Thursday.

The police also arrested some motor riders who had stationed and soliciting for passengers.

Theghanareport.com spotted several Okada riders at various parts of the city, including Awoshie, Circle, Kaneshie and Asylum Down between Monday and Thursday.

Some were parked and soliciting passengers at intersections and traffic lights to pick passengers, an act unlawful according to road traffic regulations.

All the okada riders spotted had no face masks or sanitisers during the visit by theghanareport.com.

DSP Tenge emphasised that “the exercise will be sustained as all divisional and district commanders have been tasked to replicate same in their areas of responsibilities”.
The people arrested are all being screened and would be put before court, she said.