A Kogi High Court sitting in Lokoja on Thursday declared Kogi State Traffic Management Authority (KOTRAMA) as illegal and ordered that the law establishing it be set aside.
Justice Clement Kekere made the declaration while delivering judgment in a case instituted against the agency by an Abuja-based lawyer, Mr Martin Atojoko.
“By the evidence before the court, I hereby order that the Law establishing the agency be set aside forthwith. This is because the law made by the state house of assembly contravenes the provisions of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Act 2007.
“In all, the laws establishing KOTRAMA is inhuman, and is established to cause hardship on motorists,” the judge held.
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The court awarded N100,000 to the plaintiff as general damages against the agency.
The defendants in the suit were KOTROMA, Kogi House of Assembly, the attorney-general and commissioner for justice and the state government.
In his originating summon, Atojoko said he was stopped by officers of KOTRAMA over an expired driver’s licence which led the agency to impound his Toyota Corolla car, saying that he got his car back the next day, after paying N10,000 in fines.
He argued that the action contravened of the FRSC Act 2007.