LASTMA operatives nab fake traffic officer

Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Thursday nabbed a fake traffic officer kitted in the agency’s uniform around the Lekki area of Lagos.

The General Manager, LASTMA, Mr Bolaji Oreagba, confirmed the arrest in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs Department of LASTMA, Mr Adebayo Taofiq, in Lagos on Thursday.

Oreagba said the arrest took place around Lekki area on Wednesday when the agency’s operational team was monitoring and controlling traffic around the axis.

He said that preliminary investigations conducted by the agency revealed that the suspect belonged to a gang that had been extorting huge sums of money from innocent motorists

Oreagba said that the fake traffic officer and his gang had apprehended some Lagos residents for various traffic offences at different locations.

According to him, the suspect was apprehended after the patrol team sighted him fully kitted with LASTMA uniform on a black jean.

“He was collecting money from different commercial bus drivers who were illegally dropping and picking passengers under the Lekki Bridge.

“It is disheartening for some unscrupulous elements impersonating as LASTMA officials and extorting money from innocent motorists thereby denting the good image of the agency before the public,” he said.

Oreagba urged motorists to be wary of fake officers demanding money from them stating that the agency operates a cashless policy.

He said that any violator apprehended was charged to court with a ‘Referral Notice’.

He warned the impostors to desist from such illegal act as more surveillance personnel had been deployed to strategic locations to hunt for those extorting innocent motorists.

The suspect, according to the statement, confessed to have been impersonating as LASTMA official and extorting money from different motorists, particularly commercial bus drivers.

He allegedly confessed further to be making an average of N40,000 daily from the illegal traffic business.

Meanwhile, the Director, Legal Department, LASTMA, Mr Kehinde Akerele, said that the suspect would be charged to court in accordance with the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State.