Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the investigations of some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) for extorting a lady after she was accused of committing a traffic offense. It was gathered that the corrupt officers allegedly led their victim to an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), where they allegedly collected N40,000 out of N75,000 they had earlier demanded from her.
The governor’s attention was brought to the extortion by a relative of the victim who informed him through telephone call “The officers demanded N75,000 bribe from the woman, who eventually parted with N40,000 after they ferried her to an ATM machine to make a withdrawal,” Cornerstone News learned. Meanwhile, LASTMA’s general manager, Olawale Musa, has allayed the fear of motorists over the enforcement of traffic law in the state.
The agency assured members of the public, especially motorists not to be apprehensive over the fines being circulated on social media platforms, saying the fines were not a punitive measure but part of the law and measures that have been put in place to restore sanity on roads in the state. The agency said the 2018 traffic law was an improvement of the 2012 law with objectives of addressing the void and inadequacies noticed with a view to improving traffic control and management, as well as safeguarding motorists’ rights.
On the issue of forfeiture of vehicles for driving against the flow of traffic, Musa said that this should not be misconstrued with the one-way offense as LASTMA has not apprehended any vehicle for one-way this year. Musa said the surest route to eliminating road disorderliness, chaos and impunity on our roads was through obedience to the law.
He advised law-abiding citizens to drive without fear of harassment by LASTMA officials. He, however, enjoined members of the public to report cases of harassment and extortion to the agency for investigation and appropriate action.
