Okada Riders Replace Destitutes At Jemibewon Road, Ibadan
There are strong indications that commercial motorcycle riders (known as okada riders) may have taken over and replaced destitutes at Jemibewon Road, Mokola, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The okada riders were seen, mid-Sunday morning, engaged in their commercial activities, operating unhindered and unchecked by any security operative.
Apart from the okada riders, the area is also witnessing a gradual return of the destitutes as a few of them were seen seated very close to St! Gabriel’s Secondary School, begging for alms from passers-by.
Newscoven.ng could not confirm where, when and how the stern-looking okada riders, with their over 50 motorcycles, and the destitutes made their return to Jemibewon Road.
Recalled that the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration had, in two separate exercise between last June and July, picked up destitutes from popular areas in Ibadan, including Mokola, Jemibewon Road, Challenge, Sango, Orita-UI and Ojoo.
The government had particularly described the evacuation of street urchins and destitutes from Jemibewon Road as a dream come for the Oyo State government
Efforts of the state government to rid the state capital of street urchins, destitutes and miscreants may be a futility, if what is unfolding at the Jemibewon Area of Mokola is anything to go by.
One can only hope that the activities of the okada riders at Jemibewon Road can be checked, and that the gradual but steady return of the destitutes to the area can be controlled.
This is not unmindful of the fact that the state government had once assured that getting urchins and destitutes off the major areas of the state capital is a continuous exercise.
