LASTMA Officials Arrest Marketer Who Took the ‘Right Lane’, Extort N25,500 From Him

Obi Nnamdi (not real name), a Lagos-based marketer, has accused officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) of conniving with some police officers to extort N25,500 from him.

Nnamdi told FIJ that some LASTMA officials on Fadeyi street, along the Ikorodu expressway, stopped him at about 10 am on Thursday and towed his car to their headquarters in Oshodi.

The marketer said that he had just descended from the Ojuelegba-Fadeyi flyover bridge and was about to use the other lane by the side to reach Fadeyi when the officials stopped him.

“Cars always take that route and it is not illegal. It is even tiled to show that you can use it to navigate to the other lane, but these officers would not listen. They seized my car and took it to Oshodi,” Nnamdi told FIJ.

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He stated that although he was willing to answer all the questions the LASTMA officials threw at him, they forcefully seized his car as though he was fighting with them.

Nnamdi said that he asked the officers what his offence was when he got to their headquarters but no one could give him an answer. He said the officers asked him to pay a N50,000 fine because other vehicles they seized were to be bailed out with the same amount.

“Because I was late for work, I told them I would pay N10,000 for them to let me go, but they disagreed. After much argument, I paid them N25,500,” he said.

“But the officials demanded that we withdrew from a nearby point of sale before paying them. They were strongly against me making a transfer to one of them. The payment was undocumented. They took me to a corner where I gave them the money.”

Nnamdi said that he realised both the police officers and LASTMA officials that arrested him referred to one another by fake names.

He said that when he called one of them by his real name, he got scared and told him to just pay up and leave.

FIJ attempted to speak with Olumide Filade, LASTMA’s spokesperson, but his line was busy. At press time, he had not responded to a text sent to him.