A motorist who reportedly stripped naked to fight an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority is about to be prosecuted.
Tracknews Online understands that the commercial driver on October 15 at Jakande First Gate on the Lekki-Epe expressway, engaged an official of the agency in a brawl after he was challenged for picking passengers on the road.
Men of the state agency are said to have ordered the driver to leave the spot as his presence could cause traffic on the busy road, but he refused.
Reacting to the viral video clip showing the driver stripping naked to fight an official of the agency, the LASTMA General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, in a statement made available to reporters said the driver’s ‘drop and pick’ actions contravene the State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018 (as amended).
He said: “The driver was asked to leave the spot, but was defiant and refused the entreaties of the officer deployed to correct him.
“The positioning of the vehicle was in such a way that it created avoidable traffic congestion. The driver’s resistance made the officer resolve to impound the vehicle by removing the ignition key.”
“Knowing commercial vehicle drivers’ antecedents in Lagos, with the removal of the key from the ignition after refusing all entreaties, the driver went berserk, removed his clothes to whip up public sentiment and court pity from the public. He descended heavily on the LASTMA official and dragged the officer with his uniform, thereby assaulting and disrespecting constituted authority,” Oreagba added.
The GM stated that the driver called people within the vicinity, who joined in the attack on the LASTMA officer, adding that they overpowered other officials present and succeeded in escaping with the vehicle.
He said the incident was reported at the Ilasan Police Station, adding that both the police and LASTMA were on the lookout for the suspects.
