Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has ordered a clampdown on all illegal garages in the state with immediate effect.
The governor said operations of such garages were not only illegal but being used to exploit commuters, drivers and other people of the state through exorbitant charges and unexplained levies at a period when the state government was trying to bring down transportation fares in the state.
According to a Monday statement, Abiodun gave the order after shutting two illegal garages at the NNPC Junction and opposite the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta.
The execution was carried out by the State Taskforce on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Exercise, led by the Chairman, Alhaji Farook Akintunde.
He said aside from these garages exploiting commuters, they constituted security risks to residents as they served as criminals’ hideouts through the shanties and makeshift structures associated with them.
“As a responsible government, we will not fold our hands and watch operators of these garages expose our people to unnecessary danger.
“In addition, this is a crucial period when our people deserve all palliatives that will relieve them of the current economic reality in the country,” the governor said.
He also used the opportunity to call on residents of the state to stop patronising all illegal garages for their safety and commute through government-recognised garages or board government CNG buses for their low fares and comfort.
In September, some commercial drivers operating in the Mowe-Ibafo-Arepo areas of Ogun State stormed the expressway to protest multiple levies imposed on them by transport union workers, commonly known as Agberos.
They Mentioned that they were subjected to arbitrary fees, which have caused them significant hardship.
The drivers, mainly minibus operators, lamented that the transport union fare, a cumulative sum of N4,000 per day, was increased to N6,000.
They appealed to the governor to intervene and put an end to the extortion.
