The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) impounded 123 vehicles on Tuesday for illegal parking and operating in illegal garages near bridges on Lagos Island.
The move was part of a larger enforcement campaign to clear all traffic bottlenecks around the state.
According to a statement signed by the Agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Adebayo Taofiq, on Wednesday, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, who led the enforcement team, revealed that the exercise was carried out on the directive of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa.
According to Bakare-Oki, the 123 vehicles were impounded near Ebute-Ero by Idumota Bridge, Simpson Bridge, Apongbon under Bridge, and Elegbata on Lagos Island after several warnings to private and commercial bus drivers to stop indiscriminate parking and illegal garages near bridges were ignored.
He said, “It was nauseating seeing these private and commercial bus drivers constituting public nuisance by parking at free will around bridges thereby causing avoidable gridlock and inconvenience to other motorists and road users using these bridges to link up with other parts of the state.
“We will continue to ensure free flow of traffic by scaling up our enforcement and clampdown on these stubborn private and commercial bus drivers.”
Meanwhile, 19 hoodlums were caught during an enforcement operation involving the illicit collecting of parking fees from innocent vehicles, according to the statement.
According to the investigation, the arrested hoodlums impersonated approved government officers using bogus identity cards in order to extort unsuspecting motorists, including illicit roadside vendors.
The General Manager however disclosed that drivers of the impounded vehicles and the arrested hoodlums would be prosecuted at the Lagos State Mobile Court for contravening the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018.