By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, have arrested a Volkswagen commercial bus conductor for allegedly stabbing one of the officers on Monday, during a routine traffic enforcement operation at Ile-Epo Market, inward Abule-Egba, along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The unfortunate incident occurred when a LASTMA patrol team, while carrying out its statutory responsibility of ensuring unobstructed vehicular movement and maintaining order on Lagos roadways, apprehended a Volkswagen commercial bus with registration number LSR 989 XG, for causing severe traffic obstruction at the busy Ile-Epo Market corridor.
The driver of the commercial vehicle vehemently resisted lawful enforcement procedures.
In the process, the vehicle’s conductor, later identified as Mr. Lekan Olasunkanmi, armed himself with a screwdriver and violently attacked a LASTMA officer, inflicting a stab wound during the altercation.
The injured officer was immediately evacuated to a nearby medical facility where he received urgent medical attention and is currently responding positively to treatment.
Consequent upon the attack, the matter was promptly reported at the Abattoir Police Division, while the suspect was apprehended and taken into police custody for further investigation and possible prosecution.
During the security preliminary interrogation, the suspect reportedly admitted to bringing out the screwdriver and confessed that he mistakenly stabbed the LASTMA officer during the confrontation.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, while reacting to the incident, strongly condemned the violent assault perpetrated against one of its officers by the suspect.
Bakare-Oki expressed profound concern over the increasing trend of hostility and aggression directed at traffic management personnel while discharging their lawful duties.
He unequivocally stated that the Lagos State Government would not tolerate any form of assault, intimidation, harassment or attack against officers entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining sanity and order on public roads.
According to him, “Anyone found attacking LASTMA personnel in the course of their lawful duties will face the full weight of the law.
“Our officers are deployed across the State to facilitate seamless movement of people, goods and services, as well as to ensure strict compliance with extant traffic regulations.
“Any act of violence against them constitutes an affront to public order and the rule of law and will not go unpunished.”
Bakare-Oki further urged motorists, commercial transport operators and other road users to comply with all traffic regulations as stipulated in the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018, stressing that cooperation with traffic management authorities remains indispensable to achieving a safer, more efficient and more orderly transportation ecosystem.
He however appealed to transport unions, commercial vehicle operators and road users to continually sensitize their members on the importance of respecting law enforcement and traffic management officials.
