Ogun Okada riders tackle unions over ticket fee

Some commercial motorcyclists in Ogun State have disagreed with their unions, the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria, Riders and Owners of Motorcycle Organisation and Articulated Motorcycle and Riders Association of Nigeria, over a planned hike in the ticket fee.

Okada riders in some areas of the state such as Ibafo, Magboro, Aseese, and Arepo, rejected the purported introduction of a new N100 ticket, tagged ‘Maker Ticket’ brought by some persons suspected to be working for the unions.

Some of the riders told our correspondent that the tickets they paid for every day amounted to N600 but expected to rise to N700 due to the additional ticket.

An Okada rider, Joseph Nwaka, said the three unions allegedly plotted with some area boys to forcefully issue them the ticket, making the current situation unbearable for them.

“The situation now is hard and you want us to be paying N700 per day instead of the initial ticket rate of N600. We also have families. The increment of this ticket is too much,” Nwaka said.

Another motorcyclist, who identified himself simply as Joseph, said, “They want to increase the money to N700 and people did not agree. We are not seeing any benefit from the levy. We suffer every day. It is not easy.”

Contacted, the Chairman of ACOMORAN, Folorunsho Balogun, told our reporter that he was aware of the increment.

Balogun said the unions knew nothing about the said area boys allegedly harassing the riders over the introduction of new tickets.

“I’m aware of it but the directive came from the local government chairman. We’re just a union. Any question you want to ask about the ticket should be directed to the local government chairman,” he said.