Traffic Violation: LASTMA to Acquire Body Cameras for Officials

By Ahmed Rahma

The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr Olajide Oduyoye, has stated that the agency will employ body camera technology as part of measures to ensure offenders are apprehended with solid evidence.

The traffic control officer said this while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

He said Governor Babjide Sanwo-Olu was working towards helping the agency acquire the necessary technologies to checkmate traffic offence within the metropolis.

“This year, we are definitely hoping to start in the next few weeks what you will say are non-approachable offence dealings. That means we are going to be having body cameras on officers to capture incidences because things happen so fast and you can’t really say let me get my camera.

“But if you have your body camera on that is recording, then you can capture all sorts of different things that you can use against offenders,” Mr Oduyoye stated.

He also disclosed that some persons who violate rules often remove traffic signs to deliberately disobey road laws.

“Those who willfully disobey traffic signs go in the middle of the night to remove those signs. When they are caught, they will say that there were no signs. They go and remove the signs to prove they aren’t aware of the signs. This happens all the time,” said the LASTMA GM.

He cautioned road users in Lagos to obey traffic laws and accept the consequences of their actions if they are apprehended for flouting the rules of the road.

Earlier on the show, reacting to a viral video that made rounds on Thursday, showing a sports utility vehicle tipping a police officer off a bridge into a canal while trying to escape arrest, the GM revealed that the driver, Mr Sunday Okodo, has been charged to court with two counts of attempted murder and traffic violation.

The LASTMA boss said the police inspector identified as Mr David Zapaina, has been discharged from the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“He is alive and he has been discharged from the hospital but it is more like he needs to seek more local intervention to reset his bones,” he noted.