By Bliss Okperan
No fewer than five officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have been dismissed for unethical practices.
The affected traffic controllers were fired after they were found guilty of the allegations of corrupt practices levied against them.
A panel was established to look into the allegations against seven members of the agency, but the five were recommended to the Lagos State Civil Service Commission for dismissal, while the two others were reprimanded.
Confirming the development, the Director for Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Mr Adebayo Taofiq, said in a statement that, “While five LASTMA officials indicted for corruption received letters of termination of appointment, the remaining two received letters of reprimand for absence from duty posts without leave.”
Recall that shortly after officials of the LASTMA were accused of pursuing a man to ram his vehicle on two road sweepers in Lagos last month, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu removed Mr Bolaji Oreagba as the General Manager of LASTMA.
He replaced him with Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, who is the acting GM and has promised to transform the organisation to realize the Governor’s “objectives in the first pillar of the THEMES Plus Development Agenda (Traffic Management and Transportation).”
He implored road users in Lagos to always comply with the state traffic law in order not to run afoul of the law, which will attract penalties as stated in the law.
“We wish to add by informing well-meaning and concerned Lagos residents and the motoring public that we have various windows through which complaints can be channelled for prompt action,” he said, assuring that such complaints will be investigated dispassionately with dispatch.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale