Two LASTMA Officers Arrested For Extortion
– The two LASTMA officers allegedly received an undisclosed amount from the traffic offenders.
-They said they collected the money but it was a gift from the two traffic offenders.
-Gov Sanwo-Olu however urges residents to report any erring officials.
Subair Mohammed
Lagos State Government has arrested two officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), for allegedly receiving bribe from traffic offender.
The officers whose names were not revealed was said to have received an undisclosed amount were summoned to the Governor’s office on Friday, following a petition from a lawyer to the offender.
During a fact-finding session with the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the two officers who admitted that they collected money from the offender, said it was given to them as a token of appreciation for a job well done.
The Deputy Governor disclosed that disciplinary actions would be taken against the erring officers immediately,.
He added that punitive measures to be taken against the two officers would serve as deterrent to other officers with similar motive to extort money from motorists.
He said: “These two officials allegedly extorted money from an offender whose lawyer sent a petition to us. We have listened to their stories, but we are not convinced by their defence.
“For further action, the two officers have been referred to LASTMA for further investigation and possible disciplinary actions. The law must take its course. This effort is to inform members of the public that LASTMA is created to make life easy for all of us.”
The General Manager, LASTMA, Mr. Wale Musa, who was at the meeting, also warned officers against extortion, saying the agency had stepped up its monitoring activities to eliminate extortion.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has urged members of the public to report badly behaved officials of the agency to the appropriate authority.
Views: 0
