A 27-year-old man, David Oluchukwu, arrested for impersonating as an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), has said he makes an average of N40,000 daily from violators of the state traffic laws.
The suspect, who was arrested at Lekki area of the state, said most of his victims were usually commercial bus drivers apprehended for violating traffic laws.
Mr Oluchukwu said he hailed from Ukpu in Anambra State.
“Any motorists I caught driving against traffic (one-way) pays a minimum of N5,000 while other traffic violators were charged with different fines,” he said.
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The suspect was arrested on Wednesday while operating as a LASTMA official along with four others who are currently at large.
LASTMA General Manager, Mr Bolaji Oreagba, who confirmed the arrest said the suspect was nabbed by the organisation’s patrol team while on duty monitoring and controlling traffic around Lekki axis.
Oreagba said preliminary investigations conducted by the agency revealed that the suspect belonged to a gang that had been extorting huge sums of money from unsuspecting motorists apprehended for various traffic offences, ranging from seat-belt, obstructions, illegal overtaking and one-way violations at different locations across the state.
“The suspect was apprehended after our patrol team sighted him fully kitted with a LASTMA uniform on a black jeans collecting money from different commercial bus drivers who were illegally dropping and picking passengers under the Lekki bridge.
“It is disheartening for some unscrupulous elements impersonating as LASTMA officials and extorting money from innocent motorists thereby denting the good image of the agency before the public,” he said.
Oreagba urged motorists to be wary of fake ‘officers’, who he said, were often in the habit of demanding money from them, stating that the agency operates a cashless policy as any violators apprehended are charged to court.
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