Ambode has not stopped us from impounding vehicles, says LASTMA

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) says Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of the state, has not stopped it from impounding vehicles of traffic violators.

Bashir Braimah, general manager of LASTMA, said this on Monday during the launch of `Operation Stand Strong’, a campaign to restore sanity on roads in the state.

Braimah said the programme was aimed at removing lawless road users and promoting economic activities.

“Those that have no business to obey our traffic laws should not be on our roads. We don’t want lawlessness on our roads,” he said.

“Whoever has no good intention should rather park his vehicle at home and allow those who have businesses in Lagos to continue with their businesses without any hindrance.

“Our focus this morning is to enforce law on BRT corridor and we have made a large number of arrests. People you expect to obey the law are the ones disobeying the law.

“We have let them know that nobody is above the law. There is law in Lagos, there is a government in Lagos and we shall maintain sanity. For today, the most erring people on BRT lane are the military officers.

“Over 10 vehicles of the military were found on the BRT corridor and we are going to write the army authorities.”

According to him, LASTMA impounded the vehicles of recalcitrant drivers and ticketed those that are civil.

“If Lagosians are saying they cannot be civil with us, we are going to show them the other side of the coin,” he said.

“We are going to sustain this. It is a continuous process until there is sanity on our roads. Violators who thought they escaped will be tracked and arrested because we have photographs bearing their vehicle numbers.”

Braimah said the exercise was going on in all the 40 zones in the state.

“There will be no escape route for anybody, this is zero tolerance for lawlessness on Lagos roads, we are out now and we will not relent in this effort,” he said.

“If drivers disobey traffic laws, they should know that they will be caught, if they are caught they will be embarrassed, they will be tried and then face the penalty.”

The LASTMA boss, however, noted that road users who were compliant and road-friendly had nothing to fear, noting that the authority had started bringing human face to enforcement.