FAKE LASTMA OPERATIVE ARRESTED IN LAGOS ADMITS EARNING N50,000 EACH DAY

A 27-year-old man who impersonated a member of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and went home with at least 50,000 Naira (N50,000) every day has been apprehended.

Fully equipped with LASTMA gear, the suspect. The Agency's patrol squad, which was observing and regulating traffic on that axis, caught David Oluchkwu in the act on December 14, 2022, in the Lekki neighborhood of Lagos State.

Adebayo Taofiq, the director of the agency's public affairs department, revealed in a press release that preliminary investigations had shown Oluchukwu belonged to a criminal gang that had been extorting money from drivers for a variety of traffic offenses, including failure to wear a seatbelt, obstructions, illegal overtaking, and driving against the flow of traffic.

Adebayo quoted the Agency's General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, as saying that, "the suspect was apprehended after our patrol team sighted him fully kitted in LASTMA uniform on a black jean, collecting money from commercial bus drivers, who were discharging and picking passengers on an unapproved bus-stop under the Lekki bridge"

Oreagba, according the statement, was bemused at the incident, saying "It is disheartening for some unscrupulous elements to impersonate as LASTMA officials to be extorting innocent motorists, thereby denting the good image of the Agency before the public."

In light of the Agency's allegedly cashless policy, the General Manager has warned drivers to be aware of fictitious agents seeking payment.

More surveillance personnel had been deployed to key locations to look for those extortionists, whose activities cast a negative light on the Agency, he added, warning those who had a habit of impersonating the Agency to stop doing so. He also said that anyone found breaking traffic laws would be charged with a "Referral Notice" and sent to court.

The Ukpu-born suspect in Anambra State confessed to the act and claimed that his unlawful trafficking company brought him an average of N40,000 each day.