With effect from November 8, 2025, the Imo State Government has prohibited commercial bike riders, or okada, from functioning in Owerri Municipal City.  

The notice's signer, Chinasa Nwaneri, Special Advisor to the Governor on Monitoring and Compliance, stated that the prohibition is intended to reduce the growing criminal activity that Okada riders pose to the municipality's residents' safety and security.

“We have noticed the criminal activities and risk posed by the commercial bike riders (aka okada) to the safety and security of citizens, within the Owerri municipal city,” the notice reads.

He stated that all commercial bike riders were issued a seven-day notice by the state government to stop operating within the Owerri municipal city between November 1 and November 7, 2025.

“Beginning from 8th November 2025, the state government shall commence enforcement and confiscate any commercial bike (okada) caught plying the streets of Owerri municipality, and the rider will be tried by a mobile court in accordance with the law,” the notice warned.

The Nation remembers that Dr. Ikedi Ohakim's previous administration was the first to forbid commercial bike riders in Owerri Municipal City.

Source