"IF LAGOSIANS ARE NOT CIVIL,WE WILL DEAL WITH THEM"- LASTMA BOSS

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority
(LASTMA) says Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of
the state, has not stopped it from impounding
vehicles of traffic violators.
Bashir Braimah, general manager of LASTMA, said
this on Monday during the launch of `Operation
Stand Strong’, a campaign to restore sanity on
roads in the state.
Braimah said the programme was aimed at
removing lawless road users and promoting
economic activities.
“Those that have no business to obey our traffic
laws should not be on our roads. We don’t want
lawlessness on our roads,” he said.
“Whoever has no good intention should rather
park his vehicle at home and allow those who
have businesses in Lagos to continue with their
businesses without any hindrance.
“Our focus this morning is to enforce law on BRT
corridor and we have made a large number of
arrests. People you expect to obey the law are the
ones disobeying the law.
“We have let them know that nobody is above the
law. There is law in Lagos, there is a government
in Lagos and we shall maintain sanity. For today,
the most erring people on BRT lane are the
military officers.
“Over 10 vehicles of the military were found on
the BRT corridor and we are going to write the
army authorities.”
According to him, LASTMA impounded the
vehicles of recalcitrant drivers and ticketed those
that are civil.
“If Lagosians are saying they cannot be civil with
us, we are going to show them the other side of
the coin,” he said.
“We are going to sustain this. It is a continuous
process until there is sanity on our roads.
Violators who thought they escaped will be
tracked and arrested because we have
photographs bearing their vehicle numbers.”
Braimah said the exercise was going on in all the
40 zones in the state.
“There will be no escape route for anybody, this is
zero tolerance for lawlessness on Lagos roads, we
are out now and we will not relent in this effort,”
he said.
“If drivers disobey traffic laws, they should know
that they will be caught, if they are caught they
will be embarrassed, they will be tried and then
face the penalty.”
The LASTMA boss, however, noted that road
users who were compliant and road-friendly had
nothing to fear, noting that the authority had
started bringing human face to enforcement.