There was
chaos on Assbifi Road, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State, after no fewer than 17
officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority engaged some residents
and
workers of an Information Technology company in a free-for-all.
A Youtube
video showed that some LASTMA officials had attempted to tow away a car parked
by the roadside for violating the state traffic law.
The car owner,
later identified as Opeyemi Oni, was stopped from entering the car by a group
of LASTMA officials, who insisted that it must be towed away.
After a few
minutes, a tow truck was brought to the street, as the motorist protested and
engaged the officials in an argument.
A colleague of
the motorist, who approached another group of LASTMA officials, was attacked.
Oni was also
manhandled by the officials, and he retaliated by hitting one of them on the
body three times.
One of Oni’s
colleagues was slapped four times by another LASTMA official after the man
queried him.
The scene soon
turned rowdy as the LASTMA officials overran the workers of the IT firm,
beating up everyone in sight, including the security guards.
Oni told Punch
on Thursday that he was treated in a hospital after the attack, adding that his
car was towed away by the officials.
He explained
that when he went to the LASTMA office, the management demanded N120,000 from
him before the vehicle would be released.
He said he was
charged N20,000 for wrong parking and N100,000 for assaulting a LASTMA
official, adding that he was surprised at the charges because he thought he
would be compensated for his injuries.
Oni said, “It
was not the first time I will park my car there. The place is opposite my
office and I was not blocking anything. I was in the office when it started
raining and because I wanted to perform a transaction, I decided to pick my ATM
card from the car.
“As I got
downstairs, I saw a LASTMA official around my car. I was prevented from
accessing the car. When I asked him what was wrong, he punched me.
“My colleagues
came around to calm the situation, but they were attacked as well. A policeman
later joined them and started hitting me.”
He said after
his car was towed away, he reported at the Alausa Police Station, adding that
police investigations revealed that the officials came from the Oshodi office
of the agency.
The Divisional
Police Officer was reported to have written to the management of LASTMA,
directing that the officials be released to aid investigations.
A software
developer, Nduka Ohadoma, who was slapped in the video, said five other workers
were beaten.
“The first
time he slapped me, my glasses fell off. When I asked him what I did wrong, he
just continued the assault. Apart from me, five others were assaulted,” he
added.
A female
witness called on the government to investigate the incident and bring the
officials to book, adding that the attack showed the highhandedness of LASTMA
officials.
When
contacted, the Public Affairs Officer of LASTMA, Mr. Mahmud Hassan, said the
video was an abridged version of what truly transpired during the fracas,
adding that LASTMA officials were chased away from conducting their lawful
duties with knives and stones.
He said,
“Motorists in that area are known for violation of the traffic law. We have
sent our men there many times to educate them, but they refused to listen. We
cannot allow indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the road.
“To avoid
problems along that road, we provided two parking spaces for private cars. Also
down the road, we created a space for another car park with road signs to lead
them there. However, they continued to park on the two sides of the road,
thereby causing traffic jam every time.
“On the day of
the incident, other motorists had called us to restore sanity on that road.
When we got there, we asked them to move their vehicles. While some voluntarily
complied, others protested.
“While our men
were removing the vehicles, they launched an attack against them. They tore
their uniforms and assaulted them, using broken bottles and knives.
“Whoever
uploaded that video on Youtube did not present the whole truth. We will
continue to educate our men to approach scenes of action with civility and
respect for motorists.”
The Lagos
Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirmed the incident,
saying investigations were ongoing.
0 Comments