The commercial motorcycle riders, popularly called okada, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on Thursday embarked on a strike over the alleged theft of a passenger’s manhood.
The state Chairman of the Okada Riders Association, Mallam Umar Muhammed, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen, said they have decided to embark on the strike due to the allegations.
According to him, many members have been attacked innocently by passengers unable to pay fares only to turn around and accuse them of stealing manhoods.
He said that passengers picked by their riders raised the alarm of missing manhoods when they got to their destination, leading to the beating of 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, called on security agencies and the state government to look into the issue to avoid any problem that could lead to civil unrest in the state.
LEADING REPORTERS had reported that in the last week in Kogi State, some suspected ritualists were arrested, especially within Lokoja for allegedly stealing male organs from their victims.
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.
