Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) says a motorist, Sunday Okodo, has been charged for attempted murder for knocking a police officer over a bridge in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
A viral video on social media had shown that a sports utility vehicle tipped a police officer off a bridge into a canal while trying to escape arrest.
Reacting to the incident, General Manager of LASTMA, Olajide Oduyoye, said Okodo has been charged to court with two counts of attempted murder and traffic violation.
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The LASTMA GM said the police inspector identified as 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,” the LASTMA boss noted.
Regarding what LASTMA operations will be in the nearest future, Oduyoye stated that the agency will employ body camera technology as part of measures to ensure offenders are apprehended with solid evidence.
He said Governor Babjide Sanwo-Olu is 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,” Oduyoye stated.
He also disclosed that some persons who violate rules often remove traffic signs to deliberately disobey road laws.
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“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.
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