A 44-year-old Lagos-based minibus driver, Olasukanmi Adejare, tells GODFREY GEORGE about his ugly encounters with men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, leading to the impoundment of his vehicle since April last year
What is your name and what job do you do?
My name is Olasunkanmi Adejare. I am from Lagos State. I am a graduate of Psychology from the University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University). I am 44 years old. I am currently a minibus driver. During COVID-19, I was retrenched from my work and I had no other choice, after looking for another job for years, but to consider the option of being a driver. I used to work at Apapa. A friend of mine who works at the Lagos Island Local Government secretariat told me that the LGA in conjunction with Infinity Microfinance Bank planned to give out minibuses to people. He urged me to apply and I did. That was how I got a minibus and became a driver.
You ran into trouble with LASTMA. Tell us about it.
On December 4, 2020, I was coming from Ikorodu and headed for Lagos Island. As I got to Berger Bus Stop by Iyana Oworo, a LASTMA official in uniform stopped me and said his oga, who I later learnt was a female officer, wanted to see me under the bridge. Confident that I had committed no offence, I left my key on the bus and went to meet this oga. Just steps away from that spot, a male officer quickly jumped into the bus and started moving. I stood there in utmost amazement. I didn’t even know what to do. All my protests fell on deaf ears. One of the officers later told me that my minibus would be parked at their Oshodi office, and I should go there and clear it.
What did you do then?
I didn’t go to their office because I don’t have faith or trust in LASTMA. I hear what they do to drivers and how these drivers do not get justice no matter how much they report these erring officers to their bosses. So, I decided to petition the state’s Ministry of Transportation. I dropped this petition on December 4, 2020, to the incumbent Commissioner for Transportation, explaining to him what these LASTMA officials did to me. Some weeks later, I got a phone call from one Mrs Salami, who told me she was acting on behalf of the commissioner and that my attention was needed at Alausa.
When I got there, Mrs Salami took me to the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mr Lawal Akapo, who told me that the commissioner had briefed him to look into my petition. He asked me to narrate what happened and I did. Then, he told me that the LASTMA officers involved had been ordered to bring my minibus to Alausa. He gave me the key and told me to go and check to ascertain if nothing was missing from the bus.
I was surprised that they brought the bus to Alausa. Mr Akapo told Mrs Salami to follow me down to the car park where the bus was packed. When I saw the bus, I noticed that the tyres, the jack and some other items were missing, so I told Mr Akapo about it. He told me not to worry, that the officers were on their way.
About 30 minutes later, five LASTMA officials arrived – three males and two females. One of the men was exonerated while the others were made to face the panel. A two-man panel was set up to investigate the matter and disciplinary action was supposed to be taken then but the erring officers started begging. So, Mr Lawal told me to reach a compromise with them. So, the officials came to apologise to me, and at the end of the day, promised to compensate me thereafter. They gave me a total of N70,000 as compensation.But I knew that LASTMA would come on a revenge mission so I became extra-careful on the road. True to my guess, they came again for me.
What happened next?
On April 12, 2021, a friend and I were driving from Ladipo. We were on our way home that evening when my friend, who was familiar with the Ladipo Market, said he wanted to urinate, so I had to park. There were so many vehicles painted with the same colour there picking passengers. I parked in front of all the other vehicles and my friend got down to ease himself. Before I knew what was going on, four ‘thugs’ working for LASTMA approached me and one of them entered the vehicle while others surrounded it. They asked me to give them my key for illegal parking. I explained to them that I did not stop there to pick passengers. Besides, I wondered why I was singled out, because other vehicles that even parked there, dropping and picking passengers, were not arrested. I asked them why I was being singled? That question angered them, and all four of them descended on me and beat me ruthlessly before driving my minibus away. I had visible injuries. My eyes were swollen. I was beaten to a pulp.
What happened next?
On April 15, 2021, I went back to Alausa to meet the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr Oluwatoyin. There, I met another victim, who was also manhandled and assaulted by these LASTMA officials in Oshodi. Oluwatoyin told us to go to the headquarters of LASTMA at Oshodi to meet the General Manager, who was formerly the Director of Operations at LASTMA. When we got there, they refunded the money they collected from the other victim but told me that my matter was complicated because it involved the confiscation of my vehicle. He then asked me to go to the gate and find out the state of my vehicle. He said he was too busy and could not do anything.
I left the office that day and wrote a petition to the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation. That petition was acknowledged on April 21, 2021. Thereafter, one Mr Apena, who is the Director of Surveillance and Monitoring, LASTMA called me and gave me an appointment to see him. When I got there, I narrated my ordeal and told him that LASTMA was on a revenge mission because of the first issue I had with them. He told me that they were simply doing their job. I got angry and raised my voice at him. He told me not to bring “my madness” to his office, so I left in anger.
What happened thereafter?
Then, I wrote another petition on May 11, 2021, to the Commissioner for Transportation. This time, the petition was referred to Mr Oseni Akerele, the Director, Legal Unit, LASTMA. Akerele called me at the end of May, 2021 and summoned me to his office. He told me he would identify the culprits before my arrival. After some days, he called me and I went to his office. I didn’t meet the thugs that beat me up that day. I met a police officer, one Taiwo, and a LASTMA officer, Williams. They showed the director the picture they took before they beat me up. The director then asked them why they did not arrest all other vehicles behind me. They lied that they used the vehicles behind me to block me from running away, and that is a huge lie. The director asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted justice. The director made one statement there that surprised me. He said I was arrested because the LASTMA officials saw that I was a gentleman unlike the other drivers who were thugs and could beat up or even kill the officials if they dared to arrest them. He also threatened that I must not write any other petition against LASTMA. The following day, June 10, 2021, I went to his office to meet him. That day, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), came to Lagos to inaugurate some projects. I called Mr Akerele but he told me he no longer had any business with me. He also said I should pay some money into LASTMA account.
How much did he tell you to pay?
He told me when I met him again on October 13, 2021 that if I wanted my minibus to be released, I should pay N573,000 into LASTMA account. He said the money was for the daily demurrage of N2000 and my bus had been there for months. He said N25, 000 was fine for illegal parking. So, from their calculation, from April to September, everything summed up to N573,000. This is really ridiculous because, going by their calculation, they will now be expecting me to pay about N1.5m to recover the minibus. How do they expect me to pay over N500, 000 when I am jobless and they are withholding my only means of livelihood?
What did you do thereafter?
I just left in anger. That same month, I wrote yet another petition to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu. That petition was received by his Chief of Staff, Mr Toyin Ayinde, that same month. Till date, the governor has not taken any action on that petition.
When I reached out to The PUNCH and they published my predicament in the hands of these LASTMA people sometime in January, the Director of Civil Service then sent a statement, lying against me. Their claim in the press release that I was picking and dropping passengers was a big lie. Anyone who takes a look at the pictures they released will see that the guys who surrounded my vehicle were thugs; they were neither in LASTMA uniform nor police uniform. They also claimed that I was a serial offender and it was not the first time they would be arresting and releasing me on compassionate grounds. That is another lie. LASTMA has never arrested me. They also lied that I was told to go to court and I absconded. If I absconded, would I be going to Alausa and their Oshodi office, seeking justice? That is another lie. They also said I refused to cooperate with them. What does that even mean? How am I expected to raise such a sum of money and you call that ‘cooperation’?
In the course of my going to their office to complain, I have heard a lot of stories from other victims.
What exactly are your demands from LASTMA and the LASG?
My demand is that the Executive Governor of Lagos State should look into the petition I wrote to his office, dated 26th October 2021 and for them to release my minibus.
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