The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has arrested a fake traffic officer kitted in the agency’s uniform in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Bolaji Oreagba, confirmed the arrest on Thursday.
In a statement by Adebayo Taofiq, Director of the Public Affairs Department of LASTMA, Oreagba said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday.
The agency’s operational team, monitoring and controlling traffic around the axis made the arrest.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect belonged to a gang that had been extorting money from motorists.
The statement quotes Oreagba as saying that the fake traffic officer and his gang had illegally apprehended many Lagos residents for various traffic offences.
Operatives apprehended the suspect as the patrol team sighted him fully kitted in LASTMA uniform on black jeans.
“He was collecting money from commercial bus drivers, who were illegally dropping and picking up passengers under the Lekki Bridge.
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“It is disheartening for some unscrupulous elements impersonating LASTMA officials and extorting money from motorists.
“They are denting the good image of the agency before the public,” he said.
Oreagba urged motorists to be wary of fake officers demanding money from them.
He said that the agency operates a cashless policy.
According to him the Authority usually apprehend traffic violators and charges them to court with a ‘Referral Notice’.
The general manager warned impostors to desist from such illegal acts.
He said the agency has deployed more surveillance personnel to strategic locations to hunt for those extorting motorists.
The suspect, according to the statement, confessed to having been impersonating a LASTMA official by extorting money from commercial bus drivers.
He allegedly confessed to making an average of N40,000 daily from the illegal traffic business.
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