Deborah Akinyosoye
The Lagos State Mobile Courts, on Tuesday, ordered the remand of six suspected notorious miscreants apprehended for a violent assault on personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and other sister agencies.
This is as the agency has impounded 56 vehicles for various traffic and environmental infractions at the Lagos Airport Road.
A statement on Wednesday by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, said that the attack took place during a coordinated midnight enforcement operation along Airport Road, Lagos.
The statement hinted that seven miscreants had carried out the attack, but one of the suspects entered a plea of not guilty and was consequently admitted to bail, while the six others were remanded in custody.
According to Taofiq, the seven suspects were arraigned before the Chief Magistrate of the Lagos State Mobile Court on four-count charges.
The case was, however, adjourned to February 19, 2026, for further hearing.
The enforcement exercise, Taofiq said, was led by the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, and in strategic collaboration with other government agencies, including security operatives, the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Corps, the Lagos State Task Force, and LASTMA field officers.
He emphasised that the operation was conducted after a formal complaint submitted by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which lamented the persistent and unlawful encroachment on its facilities by criminal syndicates and recalcitrant commercial bus operators operating in flagrant defiance of extant regulations.
Taofiq expressed that during the execution of the enforcement operation, five officers of the joint task force were viciously attacked with dangerous weapons, while one of the authority’s tow trucks was deliberately set ablaze by the rampaging miscreants in a desperate attempt to sabotage the exercise and challenge the authority of the state.
No fewer than 56 vehicles were impounded for various traffic and environmental infractions, comprising 44 commercial buses, five private vehicles, and seven trucks.
Bakare-Oki reiterated the resolve of the State Government to safeguard critical public infrastructure, guarantee the safety of all road users, and uphold law and order across the metropolis.
He warned that the government would neither capitulate to intimidation nor tolerate violence from criminal elements.
He vowed that every act of lawlessness would be met decisively with the full weight of the law.
The statement added: “LASTMA boss further assures members of the public that enforcement operations along critical and strategic corridors of Lagos will remain continuous, intensified, and firmly anchored within the confines of the law, in close collaboration with sister agencies, to eradicate criminality, restore public order, and safeguard lives and property.”