Lagos Conductor Stabs LASTMA Officer During Traffic Enforcement

A traffic officer with the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) was stabbed by a commercial bus conductor during a traffic enforcement operation at Ile-Epo Market, inward Abule-Egba, along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

According to a statement issued on Monday by LASTMA’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, the incident occurred when a patrol team apprehended a Volkswagen commercial bus with registration number LSR 989 XG for allegedly causing traffic obstruction along the busy market corridor.

The agency said the driver resisted the enforcement operation, after which the vehicle’s conductor, identified as Lekan Olasunkanmi, allegedly attacked one of the traffic officers with a screwdriver, inflicting a stab wound during the confrontation.

The injured officer was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is responding positively, the statement said.

LASTMA added that the incident was reported to the Abattoir Police Division, where the suspect was arrested and taken into custody for further investigation and possible prosecution.

According to the agency, the suspect reportedly admitted during preliminary police interrogation that he brought out the screwdriver and mistakenly stabbed the officer during the altercation.

Reacting to the incident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, condemned the attack, describing the growing hostility towards traffic management personnel as disturbing.

He warned that the Lagos State Government would not tolerate assaults on officials carrying out their lawful duties, stressing that offenders would be prosecuted.

“Anyone found attacking LASTMA personnel in the course of their lawful duties will face the full weight of the law. Our officers are deployed across the State to facilitate seamless movement of people, goods and services, as well as to ensure strict compliance with extant traffic regulations. Any act of violence against them constitutes an affront to public order and the rule of law and will not go unpunished,” he said.

Bakare-Oki also urged motorists, commercial transport operators and other road users to comply with the provisions of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018, noting that cooperation with traffic management authorities is essential to improving road safety and traffic flow.

He further appealed to transport unions and commercial vehicle operators to educate their members on the importance of respecting law enforcement and traffic management officials while carrying out their duties.