Some motorists have raised concerns over alleged extortion and harassment by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority.
The motorists, in separate interviews with PUNCH Metro, on Wednesday, lamented that they were at one point or the other allegedly extorted or harassed by the traffic officials.
The reactions came barely 24 hours after a yet-to-be-identified woman fell and lost consciousness as an official of LASTMA and a commercial driver allegedly clashed on Kodesoh Road along the MRS filling station in Ikeja on Tuesday.
Two eyewitnesses who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday claimed the woman involved in the accident was pregnant. However, LASTMA in a statement dismissed the claim, saying that the woman only sustained minor injuries.
A motorist, who identified himself simply as Toyin, on Wednesday, said he paid N30,000 to LASTMA officials within three weeks for offences he did not understand.
He said, “Just last week Wednesday at MRS filling station opposite Computer Village, in Ikeja, I was trying to enter the station and somebody was alighting from my Sienna vehicle when LASTMA officials in a white Hummer bus suddenly crossed me. They were up to six.
“They said it was wrong the way I wanted to enter the filling station. They just entered my car and drove it to their office in Oshodi. They wasted my time from 8am to around noon. They said I had to pay for obstruction. I was wondering what I obstructed. They made me pay N20,000.”
He said two weeks earlier, while he was waiting for the traffic light at Alausa, a LASTMA official accused him of staying on the Zebra crossing and he paid N10,000 before they released his vehicle at the agency’s Alausa office.
When asked if he was given receipts for the payment, Toyin said, “Receipt? They don’t want anything implicating, they take cash. They know they can be implicated. It’s becoming worrisome and something has to be done about them. It can’t continue like this.”
Another motorist, Idowu Aliu, who spoke with our correspondent on Tuesday, said whenever there was traffic at places where there is no traffic light, some LASTMA officials would be fast to pass some motorists that tipped them off while people on the other side would wait.
Aliu said, “What I have observed is that sometimes on the road en route College Road at Ogba, some of the LASTMA officials were quick to pass motorists that gave them money while the rest of us on the other side had been waiting for some time. I don’t understand that kind of method.”
A commuter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “Sometimes, they (LASTMA officials) will position themselves at hidden places, waiting for you to pass a particular place where the traffic sign is hidden or has faded off, then they will come out of nowhere and tow your vehicle so that you can pay. People now avoid LASTMA officials.”
Early August, the Lagos State Police Command said three policemen and two officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and LASTMA respectively were arrested for extortion of truck drivers and motorists in the Mile 2 area of the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the officers were arrested for conniving with some touts to extort motorists.
Reacting to PUNCH Metro’s investigation on Wednesday, LASTMA’s Public Relations Officer, Adebayo Taofiq, denied knowledge of any case of extortion.
He said, “On the issue of extortion, I am not aware because now, our officers either issue traffic violators referral tickets or they capture them with our newly deployed Traffic Management Solutions hand-held cameras. Once you are issued this referral ticket, you are expected to appear at the Lagos State Mobile Court.
“We have adequately informed the motoring public to stop inducing our officers with money. They should know that in court, both the giver and the taker are liable for bribery.”
He said some of those complaining could be traffic lawbreakers who commit infractions such as picking up/dropping off passengers or friends by the roadside thereby causing obstructions to other motoring public on the road, parking on walkways, kerbs, undesignated bus-stops, disobeying traffic lights/traffic managers, parking on the yellow lane, plying BRT corridors, driving against upcoming vehicles (one-way), and driving without seat-belt among others.
