They came at a time when chaos reigned on Lagos roads; when one way traffic and illegal parking were the norm. The inauguration of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) in 2000, by the Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s administration was applauded and appraised as timely. At that time, the officials were civil and keen on managing traffic. They were cultured in speech and approach and this earned them public trust.

But in no time, the virus of ineptitude and corruption ate into the fabric of the traffic agency. Stealthily, they became men infested with extortion, arm-twisting and all manner of anti-social vices. Like monsters, they preyed on hapless motorists whom they were meant to assist, bared their fangs and sank their talons into them mercilessly.

Right now in Lagos, the name LASTMA evokes anger and resentment in most motorists and commuters because of the attitude of its officials Their excesses which include extortion, harassment, intimidation and brutality while on duty, are causing pain and sorrows to the masses. Their official recklessness while hiding under executive might has even sent many to their untimely graves.

The latest in the serial sins of LASTMA was the one that almost crippled activities in Lagos last week Wednesday. A commercial motorbike operator, otherwise called okada, was crushed to death by a Bus Rapid Transit Scheme (BRT) bus in Ketu while fleeing from a team of LASTMA officials.
In the ensuing pandemonium, two BRT buses were set ablaze and another four damaged by angry okada riders who protested the death of their colleague. Scores of people, especially innocent passers-by, sustained injuries in the mayhem while commuters along Ojota, Ketu and Mile 12 were stranded as most commercial vehicles abandoned the route for fear of being attacked.

Daily Sun learnt that the late rider was running away from LASTMA officials after contravening the law that prohibited him from operating on Ikorodu Road and also for carrying two passengers. After the incident, okada riders who witnessed the accident quickly alerted others around and started a violent protest that lasted a few hours. Witnesses told our correspondent that in the pandemonium, the LASTMA operatives faced the protesters headlong, which led to the massive destruction.

But such occurrences commenced long ago in Lagos.
To Abosede Jogunomi, a mother of five, widowed by overzealous LASTMA officials, the traffic outfit is nothing short of an “agency of death”. Her husband, Lateef, who worked in the Sheriff Department of Lagos High Court, Ikeja Judicial Division, was killed by LASTMA officials on his way to effect a Lagos court order on June 6, 2008, at Oshodi. According to eye witnesses, LASTMA officials had stopped the commercial bus boarded by the deceased and forced the passengers out, claiming they wanted to use the bus for patrol.

In the ensuing argument, one of the LASTMA officials suddenly grabbed Lateef, who all the while watched the unfolding scenario, shook him violently and shoved him out of the bus, causing him to hit his head on the pavement. He died at the Gbagada General Hospital minutes after he was rushed there for medical attention.
According to Abosede who now supports her family by selling food from a wooden shack, what made her husband’s demise more painful was the insensitivity displayed by LASTMA over his death.
“The future looks bleak for us. Nothing came from LASTMA. They did not even send anybody to sympathise with us. Even if it was a dog, one should show some concern,” she had lamented.

In May 2009, LASTMA officials, accompanied by armed mobile policemen and thugs, unleashed terror in the Mushin area of the metropolis while trying to impound trucks parked at the entrance of a firm. By the time they were through with their commando like operation, one Habeedi Adeniji lay dead. The deceased, an automobile electrician, was working on the electrical system of one of the trucks when he was crushed to death by an official who tried to move a truck with a master key. Two other men, Fatai and Michael, who were also hit, had a broken pelvic and thigh respectively.

Even the state government is not unaware of their excesses as it sometime ago sacked about 87 of them even as there are many cases pending with the Personnel Management Board. According to the Commissioner for Transportation, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, the state had to show them the way out to avoid acts capable of bringing its name into disrepute.

But the failure of the state government, especially the state Ministry of Transportation to properly define LASTMA rules of engagement has to a long extent strengthened the officers in their brazen act. It has also made them to overstep their bounds, arresting motorists for hazy and ill-defined traffic offences. Due to this indefinite rule or non spelt out code, motorists are in the dark about which acts actually constitute traffic breaches or an offence when dealing with LASTMA officials.

Most Lagosians have wondered severally if LASTMA officials are not meant to help move a broken down vehicle to a place where it would not obstruct traffic, rather than having it impounded.
The inability to help distressed motorists earned some overzealous LASTMA officials the ire of a group of military personnel on July 9, 2010. The officers were unhappy with the way the LASTMA officials manhandled the driver of a trailer laden with 40-feet container which broke down in Mile 2, despite appeal by the driver to be allowed to repair the truck. An attempt to tow the truck got them thoroughly beaten and hospitalized.

According to a motorist, Sina Adekunle, there would be no problem if LASTMA officials carry out their duty with a human face rather than through intimidation and harassment.
An aggrieved commercial driver, who said he had been arrested on spurious charges several times, noted it was high time the state called the traffic agency to order. Another driver, Chibuike Nwokedi echoed the feeling of most motorists by complaining about the absence of defined standard bus stops in Lagos State as the LASTMA officials decide on their own where a bus stop is.

“From Oshodi to Mile 2, then to Okokomaiko, there is no standard bus stop. If we stop to pick passengers at places everyone recognises as bus stops, they would pounce on us like thugs and impound our vehicles. The state government must urgently do something about them,” he said.
Special Adviser to Lagos State governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, wasn’t available to respond to our correspondent’s enquiries. He didn’t pick his calls, neither did he reply messages sent to his line.


http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/blog/?p=78392
By TESSY IGOMU
Wednesday, February 16, 2011