Is it Really Necessary to Ban Okada in Benin?

Comrade Governor Adams announced the ban commercial motorcycles on Tuesday afternoon after the weekly security meeting, said the ban is limited to the three local Government areas which make up Benin City including Ikpoba Okha, Oredo and Egor Local Government Areas.

Governor Oshiomhole said it is now increasingly evident that many of the kidnappers in the state are Okada riders. He said that the state has become a haven for criminals and other Okada riders who migrated to Edo State following similar ban in other states. The Governor appealed to the Okada riders to bear with the government as they were compelled to make this decision.


The Governor also said that the security agencies have resolved to commence random checks of the private security personnel employed by residents in the state to determine if they are Nigerians and have valid papers to reside here as it has been discovered that they have largely been the informants in cases of kidnapping.

Good reasoning, but could you really because of few bad eggs break all the eggs? And now that most of these guys are left without jobs, would kidnapping increase? If the problem is about non-Nigerians that live in the State, why not just send them away?

Is it really necessary to ban Okada in Benin City? Let me know what you think iReport readers.