A bus conductor allegedly attacked and stabbed a traffic official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) during an enforcement operation on Monday at Ile-Epo Market along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The incident was disclosed in a statement issued in Lagos by the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki.
According to him, the confrontation occurred after a LASTMA patrol team intercepted a Volkswagen commercial bus for allegedly obstructing traffic around the market area inward Abule-Egba.
Bakare-Oki condemned the attack, stating that the injured official was carrying out his lawful assignment.
“The officer was carrying out his statutory responsibility of ensuring unobstructed vehicular movement and maintaining order on Lagos roadways.
“The driver of the commercial vehicle vehemently resisted lawful enforcement procedures.
“In a shocking escalation of events, the vehicle’s conductor armed himself with a screwdriver and violently attacked a LASTMA officer, inflicting a stab wound during the altercation.
“The injured officer was immediately evacuated to a nearby medical facility where he received urgent medical attention and is currently responding positively to treatment,” he said.
He added that the matter was reported at the Abattoir Police Division and that the suspect had been arrested and taken into police custody for investigation and possible prosecution.
Bakare-Oki expressed concern over increasing attacks on traffic personnel while performing official duties and warned that such actions would not be tolerated by the Lagos State Government.
According to him, any person found assaulting LASTMA officers in the line of duty would face legal consequences.
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“Our officers are deployed across the state to facilitate seamless movement of people, goods and services as well as to ensure strict compliance with extant traffic regulations.
“Any act of violence against them constitutes an affront to public order and the rule of law and will not go unpunished,” he said.
He further urged motorists, commercial transport operators and other road users to obey traffic rules as provided under the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018.
Bakare-Oki also appealed to transport unions to continue educating their members on the importance of respecting traffic and law enforcement officers while carrying out their responsibilities.