Irate mob lynch LASTMA official after their vehicle ran over conductor

Punch reports that the incident happened on Thursday, December 15, 2016, along the Liverpool Road in the Apapa area of the state when the official vehicle of the team led by Olatunji, knocked down the conductor, killing him instantly.

It was gathered that Olatunji who was the zonal head of the agency in the Apapa area, had led a team of officials to the area in a patrol van at about 11 am to arrest erring motorists who parked their vehicle indiscriminately on the roads.

ALSO READ: “LASTMA: Traffic Officials Push Bus Conductor To His Death For Refusing To Give Bribe”

But before they got to the Liverpool Road, the drivers and conductors scampered for safety and in the process, one of the conductors who tried to escape arrest, was knocked down and he died instantly.

This was said to have angered other drivers and conductors as well as passersby and they pounced on Olatunji before he could escape and beat him to death.

A mechanic in the area who identified himself as Uthman Salau, narrated how the incident happened thus:

“The drivers were relaxing around 10.30am when they saw a LASTMA van approaching. They felt the officials had come to arrest them for parking vehicles indiscriminately.

So, they ran away. A motor boy who was sleeping beside a tanker was woken up by the commotion. Before he could escape from the spot, the LASTMA van hit him and he died instantly.

One of the drivers who saw the boy lying in a pool of blood, called his colleagues and they stormed the scene with cutlasses, bottles and all sorts of weapons. The officials fled with the van except their team leader (Olatunji). They stabbed him to death.”

Confirming the death of the LASTMA commander, the spokesperson of the agency, Mahmud Hassan, said investigation had commenced to ascertain the cause of the incident while also debunking reports that the officials extort motorists.

“I can confirm his (Olatunji’s) death. We are still investigating and I will get back to you. The Lagos State Government did not set up LASTMA as a revenue generation agency.

We are there to provide services to the good people of the state. So, we are not after generating revenue. What we are after is safety on Lagos roads and our men are professional.

That is our primary duty and responsibility and that is what we have been doing day and night.”

ALSO READ: “Lagos State Traffic Management Authority: LASTMA official killed by 'Okada' rider”

Many motorists in the state have been complaining about the excesses of officials of the traffic management agency as they are said to be extorting money from them at will even when they are not at fault.