A routine traffic enforcement exercise descended into chaos as commercial drivers and recalcitrant transport operators violently attacked officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), injuring personnel and vandalizing operational vehicles.
Despite the fierce resistance, the agency impounded 84 commercial and private vehicles across several major traffic flashpoints, including Idumota, Iddo, Ijora-Olopa, Costain, and Onipanu.
The violent clashes erupted during a coordinated campaign aimed at dismantling illegal motor parks and halting dangerous driving practices.
The enforcement teams targeted one of the state’s most perilous traffic violations: commercial buses reversing against the flow of traffic along the one-way corridor stretching from. Iddo back to Idumota via the Carter Bridge.
LASTMA officials described the practice as a death trap, warning that unsuspecting motorists and commuters cresting the bridge face high-speed, head-on collisions with vehicles unlawfully operating in reverse.
Resistance turned violent as notorious miscreants and local transport hoodlums attempted to abort the seizure of non-compliant vehicles.
Operational vehicles belonging to the agency were damaged, and several officers sustained injuries while attempting to clear the corridors.
However, security personnel accompanying the task force subdued the attackers, arresting several key suspects involved in the assault.
Confirming the operation, LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, on Sunday, described the exercise as a necessary intervention to curb a growing culture of lawlessness on Lagos roads.
“No individual or group will be permitted to appropriate public roads, bridges, or under-bridge spaces for illegal loading, parking, repairs, or garage operations,”
Bakare-Oki stated, stressing that repeated warnings to transport unions and commercial operators had been ignored.
He re-issued a stern warning to commercial bus operators, transport unions, and private motorists against driving against traffic, illegal parking, and converting road setbacks into unauthorized parks.
The LASTMA boss urged members of the public to report reckless driving, illegal garages, and traffic violations via its toll-free short-code, 3367, as the agency vows to sustain its crackdown across the metropolis.