Mobolaji Michael
THE Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has, again, advised the motoring public to disregard an online report wherein the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was said to have ordered the Agency to stop arresting erring motorists.
Describing the report as fake and misleading, LASTMA General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, deduced that the report was the handiwork of faceless mischief makers, who are hell-bent on recirculating a piece of obviously fake news since February 2020, despite repeated rebuttals by the Agency, the most recent of which was under the headline: “DON’T ARREST ANY MOTORIST, SANWO-OLU WARNS LASTMA”.
Adebayo Taofiq, LASTMA’s spokesman, in a press release, said: “The attention of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has been drawn to the recurring fake news circulating on social media, purported to have been said by the Governor of Lagos State Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu that, “Henceforth no LASTMA official should arrest any motorist, either commercial or private. The duty of LASTMA is to manage traffic and not to arrest”.
According to the statement, Oreagba warned Lagosians, especially motorists, to be wary of online reports aimed at causing chaos and mischief within the society, wondering why some individuals chose to always mislead others to run afoul of the state’s traffic law as amended by the state House of Assembly in 2018.
“I wonder why some individuals choose to always mislead others to contravene the traffic law of the state as amended by the state House of Assembly in 2018″, he said.
According to him, it was part of the Agency’s responsibility to uphold and enforce the traffic laws of the state, stating further that officers and men of the Agency would not hesitate to enforce those laws whenever violated, to transform the state’s transportation system towards ensuring free flow of traffic and reducing road accidents.
He said that all working ethics of the Authority, including all its operations, were being regulated by laws, and advised the motoring public “to ignore and disregard all fake news circulated by faceless individuals and designed to lead them into breaking the traffic law of the state”.
Oreagba re-echoed that the Agency is currently operating with modern technological innovations in addressing traffic challenges, by equipping traffic management personnel with new hand-held Traffic Management Solution (TMS) devices that capture real-time traffic violations on the road, in addition to a signalized intersection and junction improvement.
While thanking all road users for their support and cooperation with LASTMA, which has culminated in the reduction in travel time, Oreagba, however, advised motorists to call any of the Agency’s hotlines (08100565860, 08129928503 & 08129928597) for any inquiry or clarification on the activities of the Agency.
Eighteen-Eleven Media