A suspected serial fake traffic officer impersonating the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has been arrested by the agency in the Ikoyi area of the state.
The suspect, identified as Omotutu Bamidele, aged 55, confessed to extorting an average of N35,000 daily from motorists, particularly private car owners, by impersonating the agency with a reflective jacket.
According to LASTMA, Bamidele and his colleagues, who are still at large, have been extorting money from motorists for various traffic offenses, including driving against traffic and dropping someone at an undesignated bus stop. Bamidele confessed that private car owners he caught dropping someone at any undesignated bus stop paid between N15,000 to N20,000, while those caught for driving against traffic paid a minimum of N35,000.
The suspect was apprehended by the agency’s Monitoring/Surveillance team in response to complaints from the motoring public. The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Bolaji Oreagba, urged the public to be wary of fake traffic officers, noting that the agency operates a cashless policy and apprehended violators are charged to court with a referral notice issued to them. He warned the motoring public to desist from inducing traffic officers in any form, as both the giver and taker are liable before the law.
