The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has condemned
the attitude of some motorists, especially commercial vehicle drivers and
hoodlums who are fond of attacking officials of the agency in the course of
carrying out their duty.
The General Manager of the agency, Mr. Olawale Musa, who
said this, described the action as barbaric and capable of discouraging LASTMA
personnel from doing their work efficiently and fearlessly.
In December last year, an irate mob lynched a LASTMA
commander, Mr. Bakare Olatunji. The victim, who was the zonal head of the
agency in the Apapa area, had led a team of officials in a patrol van to arrest
some motorists who reportedly parked their vehicles on the roadside when some
hoodlums pounced on them, leading to the death of the commander.
In October, hoodlums had attacked officials of the agency at
Costain Roundabout and vandalised one of their patrol vehicles. The attackers
accused a LASTMA official of hitting a commercial bus driver with a charm while
arresting him over a traffic offence.
In an interview with our correspondent, Musa stressed that
no amount of intimidation would deter them from performing their duty and
warned that the agency would not tolerate the continued attack of its
officials.
The LASTMA GM said that the agency would not relent in
ensuring free flow of traffic in the state.
He said that the agency had begun the monitoring and patrol
of major roads in the state in a bid to stem the activities of traffic law
violators and ensure orderliness on the road.
He said the agency’s new approach was to focus on effective
traffic control with less emphasis on enforcement and arrest of traffic laws’
violators.
Musa said the agency was set up for the good of the society,
stressing that many state governments had emulated the Lagos State Government
by creating their own traffic management units.
He called for the cooperation of motorists and other road
users to ensure sanity on the highway in order to ensure free movement and
improve the economies of the people and the state.
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