Lagos govt taskforce clamps down on illegal activities of LGA traffic officials
The Lagos State Task Force has indicated its resolve to stop the illegal activities of local government traffic officials on all roads across the state, beginning from today, May 28, 2018. The Chairman of the Task Force, Superintendent of Police Olayinka Egbeyemi, who disclosed this yesterday, said that the illegal activities of local government traffic […]
The Lagos State Task Force has indicated its resolve to stop the illegal activities of local government traffic officials on all roads across the state, beginning from today, May 28, 2018.
The Chairman of the Task Force, Superintendent of Police Olayinka Egbeyemi, who disclosed this yesterday, said that the illegal activities of local government traffic officials were becoming too embarrassing to the state government.
Egbeyemi said that the state government was daily being bombarded by cases of local government traffic officials extorting money from motorists, adding that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohinmi, had directed a clampdown on erring officials.
He reiterated that the ban by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of all local government traffic officials from controlling or engaging in traffic duties still stands.
“Motorists often complain of the illegal activities of these traffic officials in mufti collecting from them illegal fees with fake local government tickets. Indeed, they have traffic units in all the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas.
“However, traffic management is not a responsibility of the third tier of government. We have reported instances of illegal arrests, extortions and general impunity on the part of the local government operatives,” he added.
The chairman quoted Imohinmi as saying that only the Nigerian Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Taskforce and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) can perform traffic duties in the state.
He urged motorists to always adhere strictly to traffic regulations and report to the nearest police station any illegal activities of local government traffic officials, adding that there had never been a time government considered ceding its traffic management responsibilities to any tier of government.
He also enjoined chairmen of local governments and local council development areas of the state to maintain zero tolerance for illegal traffic duties in their respective councils as any traffic official caught by the agency would be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law.