Lagos: LASTMA commander, other officials arrested

The Zonal commander of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority in Agege, Akeem Badmos and five other officials were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impounding a commercial bus allegedly owned by a top government official.

It was gathered that they were detained at the Oshodi office of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit.

But, LASTMA said that the arrest had no connection with the ownership of the bus, adding that it was an operation aimed at curbing the illegal activities of some officials in the zone.

It was learnt that pandemonium ensued around 8am on Wednesday when some LASTMA officials arrested the bus, with number plate, FKJ 772 XA, in the Abule Egba area for traffic offences.

The bus conductor was accused of leaving the door open and hanging on the corridor of the vehicle.

A source, told Punch that 30 minutes after the vehicle was impounded at the agency’s office in Agege, the LASTMA General Manager, Wale Musa, came to the premises and ordered the arrest of the officials.

“The general manager initially sent the Provost Marshal, Mr. Femi Ajibosho, to find out if the vehicle was on the premises. Five minutes after, the GM drove into the yard and started videoing. He said he was called from Alausa in respect of the bus. But what I learnt was that the bus actually belongs to a senior government official.

“To my utmost surprise, they called the task force officials who came in their Black Maria. Before we knew what was happening, the zonal commander, the head of operations, and some other officials, including a woman, were ordered into the truck and taken to the task force office in Oshodi” the source said.

Another source said the officials were quickly released from detention on Thursday after Davies slumped in the custody of the task force, adding that he was on admission at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

The spokesperson for the task force, Taofiq Adebayo, said the agency had nothing to do with the case, noting that the officials were detained on the order of LASTMA.

He said, “It is not our case. The officials were only brought to our office. The LASTMA people came for them this morning (Thursday). I am not aware anybody slumped and I don’t think there was anything like that.”

However, the LASTMA spokesperson, Mahmud Hassan, said the arrest had nothing to do with ownership of the bus, adding that some officials who are notorious for illegal activities were “caught-red-handed and arrested”.
He, however, said they have been released on bail, and that investigation was on-going.