Lasun Alagbe
The Commissioner for Transport in Lagos State, Mr. Ladi Lawanson, has said that 18 officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority have been killed in their line of duty this year.
He said this was unacceptable and that the government would no longer tolerate attack by members of the public on any officer LASTMA.
According to the ‘News Agency of Nigeria’, Lawanson said it was sad that the officers employed to safeguard members of the public were always being attacked by the same people.
According to him, apart from the 18 LASTMA officials killed in 2018, 24 others were permanently incapacitated by hit-and-run vehicles and violent attacks.
He said at a press conference on Wednesday that the officer cadre of LASTMA was highly educated and dedicated men and women who should not be seen as never-do-wells.
He also spoke on the most recent killing suffered by the agency: “The late Rotimi Adeyemo, the LASTMA officer, who was recently killed by a triggered happy police officer, was born in 1977; he held both the National Certificate in Education and Bachelor Degree of Science in Economics.
“He left behind a 105-year-old father, an 88-year-old mother, a wife, Eniola Adeyemo. and three children, including a set of twins,” he added.
Lawanson, however, noted that the Ambode government would approve compensations and death insurance benefits for the officials slain in the course of performing their duties.
