LASTMA Agency Returns Money Extorted From A Motorist By A Policeman 

The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, Olajide Oduyoye, has said the agency has returned the money extorted from a motorist by a policeman attached to the enforcement unit of the agency.

It was gathered that the policeman collected the sum of N52,000 through a Point of Sales machine from the unidentified motorist for allegedly driving against the traffic.

The GM, in a series of tweets on Wednesday, stated that the cop had been identified and a report would be sent to the state police command to reprimand him.

He tweeted, “On Monday, I investigated a case of extortion involving a lady, whose vehicle was arrested wrongfully when the police squad attached to the LASTMA Enforcement Unit went to enforce the law on one-way driving without LASTMA personnel.

“While making arrests, this innocent motorist was also picked up and her vehicle brought to the headquarters. The vehicle was not booked for any offence. They negotiated from N150,000 and ended up fining her N52,000 using a POS for payment.

“She then called the LASTMA contact number and the incident was brought to my notice. I insisted on investigating the issue, identified the officer involved and the money was retrieved. We called the lady to return to LASTMA Headquarters to collect her money.

"She came with her mum and they were extremely grateful. We will be sending a report to the police formation for them to start the process of reprimanding the officer involved. We will not tolerate any negative attitude from our officers or those attached to any of our enforcement units. We continue to encourage road users to send reports of any errant officer via any of our complaint channels.”