Lagos Clamps Down On Traffic Offenders
4,477 motorcycles impounded by the Lagos State Task Force are set to be totally destroyed by the state government.
Chairman of the task force, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi said this on Tuesday noting that they were seized from traffic offenders in the state.
He noted in his discussion with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the motorcycles were seized from the beginning of June to date all within the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Egbeyemi pointed out that some motorcycle owners have retrieved their seized bikes after paying the necessary fines and penalties but the unclaimed ones are kept within the premises of the Task Force’s office located in Oshodi, Lagos.
According to him, after six months, a court order would be sought by the Lagos State government for the destruction of all unclaimed motorcycles to serve as a deterrent to others.
“The Governor of Lagos came on board in May, and 4,477 motorcycles have been seized from traffic offenders. All those unclaimed motorcycles seen in our premises were seized from June to date (October).
“What we do is that we crush them, there is a company that helps the LASG to crush them, after which they are sold as scrap.
“The governor, however, no longer wants them sold as scrap, but he wants them to be crushed or destroyed totally. We have ordered crushing machines from abroad because the one in Epe is faulty. The new crushing machines will soon arrive and soon they will all be crushed,” Egbeyemi said.
Commenting on the motorcycles seized from corporate bodies such as Opay and Gokada, Egbeyemi said they will be subjected to a similar fate of destruction as no individual or organisation was above the law.
“The Gokada, Opay and those other corporate motorcycles rode against traffic (one way) that is why the riders were arrested and the motorcycles confiscated. The penalty for such offences is total forfeiture. The owners of those motorcycles (Gokada and Opay) were to be charged to court but some of them ran away.”
He revealed some of the offenders actually ran away and abandoned their motorbikes out of fear of the possibility of serving a jail term.
“Some of the motorcyclists came and the court issued them fine, while the others are usually afraid to come because one of the penalties for driving against traffic (one way) is an option of one-year imprisonment and they are scared of going to jail,” he said.
Egbeyemi urged citizens of Lagos State to abide by the traffic rules and regulations noting that nobody is above the law and offenders will be dealt with according to the law.
source https://www.naijanews.com/2019/10/23/lagos-state-to-destroy-over-4000-motorcycles-see-why/
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