Forty-three year-old Mutiu Ogunwale was seated in his bus looking dejected. His frantic efforts to wipe off the beads of sweat forming on his brow with his shirt sleeves achieved very little in the hot afternoon weather.
He explained to our correspondent that he was considering his options again after growing tired of his current job- commercial bus driving.
Ogunwale had just paid N7,000 to secure the release of his bus from officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority working with touts at Oshodi park- his second time in one month.
“We call the touts ‘Aja LASTMA’ (LASTMA dogs) because they are the ones who hound motorists for them. At the end of the day, they share the money extorted from the motorists, particularly commercial motorists, who they regard as ATMs because they are sure of getting money from us since we make daily income,” he said.
In spite of being broke and owing two of his colleagues who had lent him the N7,000, Ogunwale still considered himself lucky even though he insisted he had done nothing wrong on both occasions.
The reason why Ogundele considered himself lucky was not far-fetched.
Usually when the hounding touts attempt to make arrests for LASTMA officials, they are not civil about it. Such attempts often lead to struggles with motorists and sometimes, damage to vehicle parts or in some cases, casualties. In Ogunwale’s case, the struggle had been devoid of such drama and therefore came at no extra cost to fix damaged vehicle parts or rush a passenger to the hospital.
He told our correspondent, “The tout just got inside my vehicle and started struggling with me to remove the key from the ignition. That’s what they always do. During the struggle, LASTMA officials will arrive and take over from there. They will ask the driver to negotiate a bribe or have them issue a ticket for a fictitious offence. They will reel off various offences and say the fine is N50,000. So, most of us prefer the option of bribe because they will complicate the issue once they take the vehicle to their office.
“There have been cases where the key will snap, leaving part of it in the ignition. The driver will need to spend some money to remove the part left in the ignition. There have also been cases where passengers are wounded in the process of gaining control of the vehicle from the driver.”
Saturday PUNCH investigation shows that LASTMA officials have modified their tactics for extorting money from motorists to reduce the risk of being caught by their superiors. In recent times, many LASTMA officials have resorted to working with touts and hawkers as third parties to keep ahead in their schemes to evade arrest.
Acting on behalf of LASTMA officials, the touts and hawkers negotiate with motorists and collect bribes. The officials and their “dogs” meet later to share the money made from bribe collection.
At a LASTMA post at Olupese junction, Oshodi, a man popularly called Yellow Orobo because of his skin complexion and size, is a famous face. He is often seen hopping from vehicle to vehicle, harassing motorists for money.
After careful observation, our correspondents noticed that Yellow Orobo resumes at the post in the morning and leaves at night like the stationed LASTMA officials.
“He (Yellow Orobo) is also one of their (LASTMA) dogs. Their dogs do the dirty jobs for them while they remain in the shadows. They just come out of nowhere, snap your plate number with their phones and accuse motorists of committing all manners of offences. In their office, the official who made the arrests would disappear and the motorists would be left to argue his case with another official who would insist that he committed the offence,” said a motorist.
Indeed, investigation shows that Yellow Orobo used to work with LASTMA before he was dismissed by the agency some years ago for an offence related to graft. Saturday PUNCH observed that his targets were usually commercial bus drivers.
On one occasion, our correspondent observed as Yellow Orobo rose up to chase after a commercial bus after being nudged by a LASTMA official seated beside him.
A LASTMA official with a name tag, Iyanda G. A, at the post declined to answer our correspondent’s questions about Yellow Orobo’s job at the post. He directed our correspondent to the LASTMA headquarters at Oshodi/Ilupeju, Lagos.
State secretariat, Alausa
Oshodi seems not to have the monopoly of this act, as our correspondents observed that even at the seat of power at Alausa, such delegated assignment for bribe collection goes on unnoticed by strangers except by the participants and close observers.
At the popular Secretariat Bus stop, it was observed that the ice cream seller, a relatively fair man in his early 30s, does more than sell ice cream to commuters and passers-by.
Even though he looked innocent and one that was only there to mind his business, few minutes after our correspondents got to the place, he was seen answering the call to duty from his bosses, the LASTMA officials, who were stationed at the bus stop.
Assigned by the two LASTMA officials at the bus stop, comprising a short, dark-skinned man and a short light skinned woman, the ice cream seller was seen by our correspondent moving from one bus to the other whilst selling his goods as customers called.
An activity that was largely unnoticed by many apart from the partakers and close observers, the female LASTMA official intermittently gives a nod to the ice cream seller on who to meet to collect money. Once he (ice cream seller) collects the money, he keeps the money, making it difficult for anyone to suspect.
Also, the mode of communication between them was so secretive and covert such that no one could have easily noticed, and even when they communicated, it was in such an informal language that would not suggest any relationship between them.
At a point in time, our correspondents overheard the female official telling the man to “meet the second bus in front, he said you should come.” Immediately, the guy stood from his bicycle and headed for the specified bus, collected the money and kept it in his pocket.
On a close observation, our correspondent saw that when he came back to his bicycle, the female official came closer and asked in Yoruba language if the bus conductor gave him the money, and he nodded in affirmation.
While this went on, the other official, who is a man, paid more attention to the call they were assigned to do while his colleague combined hers with monitoring the proceeds and ensuring that more money was made.
Even though none of the drivers or bus conductors was seen to be coerced into settling the LASTMA officials, Saturday PUNCH observed that the officials could barely assert their authority in enforcing parking and traffic rules, as they sometimes had to resort to appealing to the drivers.
A commuter, who works in a public office at the other side of the state secretariat complex, who craved anonymity because he was used to boarding bus at the point, said it had been like that for some time.
He said, “For those who know about it, it is not new. It is easy to think the ice cream seller sold goods to the conductor and had gone to collect his money. They collect the money and give the guy his commission at closing time or when the guy wants to leave.”
It is believed that the officials chose to delegate people so as not to be caught collecting bribe.
At the Pen Cinema roundabout, the LASTMA officials were observed to be doing the collection themselves. It also appeared that the officials looked fiercely at drivers hoping any of them would make a goof.
During the time of our correspondents’ visit, about two vehicles were caught, and before anyone could take a second look, they had entered the vehicle and ordered the driver to drive away, leaving behind only one officer, even though the State Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, had warned LASTMA officials not to enter offenders’ vehicles even when carrying out arrests.
Few minutes later, the two officials walked back in smiles, while hunting for other offenders.
Meanwhile, according to motorists in the Oshodi area, LASTMA officials sometimes deliberately create gridlock while directing traffic to make indiscriminate arrests.
A commercial motorist, Gideon, said, “If the officials ask you for money and you don’t give them, may God help you, because they will surely get back by arresting you in traffic and claim that you have committed an offence. In most cases, they won’t even tell you what the offence is. Once they join the touts to take control of your steering wheel, they just drive the vehicle off to a secluded area and ask you for money if you don’t want to get a N50,000 ticket.”
Ikorodu axis
A private motorist living in Ikorodu, Lagos, John Akpan, has also had to deal with a tout acting on behalf of LASTMA officials.
Akpan admitted to have committed a traffic offence when he was caught by LASTMA officials. However, he was asked to deal with a stern-looking man in civilian clothes to negotiate a bribe.
He said, “After I was stopped for committing a traffic offence, I pleaded with them because I knew that I was truly at fault. Then an official asked if I wanted to settle the matter there or have my car taken to their office for ticketing.
“I said I preferred that we settled it there, so they asked someone who was not in uniform to follow me and negotiate the bribe. We did and I gave him N5,000. Then they released me.”
Investigation shows that many illegalities happen at the LASTMA Area office, Sagamu Road, Ikorodu, popularly called LASTMA yard. The office is a LASTMA revenue office but a large chunk of the revenue collected there ends up in the pockets of individuals.
Shared with officials of the Vehicle Inspection Office, there is a fixed payment of N700 on any vehicle driven into the compound, in addition to the negotiated bribe.
However, the combined amount of money collected as bribe by the officials from motorists who wish to evade ticketing has recently been jacked up to N7,500 from N5,700.
“Before, if your vehicle got into the compound at all, you would pay N700 for gate pass and another N5,000, making it N5,700. But their fee has increased to N7,500 now. Whatever happens, motorists will pay that amount as bribe. We’ve been told that the money for gate pass is still included in the N7,500,” said a commercial motorist, who did not want to be named.
With the graft in the agency, some LASTMA officials are said to make up to N20,000 daily from bribes. Investigation shows that some of the officials save as much as N10,000 daily with thrift collectors from the illegal money they make on the field.
Some motorists also claim that LASTMA officials have admitted to them that part of the money they make goes to some of their superiors to keep them on the field, where they could continue to make money, instead of having to treat files in the office.
In Ikorodu, a major place for LASTMA officials to cap a satisfying day is the Fatmot Restaurant, formerly called Iya Silifa Canteen, along the Lagos-Ikorodu Expressway. There, enticing local dishes with assorted meats on display greet visitors.
Officials of the agency throng the restaurant in the evenings to eat and drink to their fill, often with customers, particularly motorists, stealing envious glances.
“I always look at them (LASTMA officials) when they eat; they eat like thieves because only thieves can be eating like that. They buy the biggest meat for themselves,” a worker at the restaurant confirmed to Saturday PUNCH during a visit to the spot.
In a related development, during the visit to Ikorodu, our correspondents observed as touts warned motorists approaching Ikorodu garage of a VIO checkpoint, asking to be paid N1,000 to help get their rickety vehicles through the checkpoint without being stopped.
Asked how they would manage to get the vehicles across, one of the touts said they had a close rapport with the VIO officials.
But further investigations which involved speaking with motorists showed that the VIO officials get their share from the money made by the touts by counting the number of vehicles taken across the checkpoints by the touts.
A motorist who identified himself as Michael said, “The VIO officials don’t like to be seen collecting money openly from motorists, so by engaging the touts, they only have to look the other way and no one will accuse them of not stopping all the rickety vehicles that pass through their checkpoint.
“So far, the ploy works for them because no one will suspect them. Meanwhile, they know all the touts working for them and all they have to do is keep count of the number of vehicles the touts drive through the checkpoint. At the end of the day, they can do the calculation and get their share without any party being cheated.”
When our correspondent visited the yard, a man in civilian clothes looking stern and dishevelled insisted that our correspondent leave the premises as vehicles were being driven in by VIO officials.
Our correspondent suspected that the move was to negotiate bribe with the owners of the vehicles away from the prying eyes of our correspondent.
Eventually, a uniformed VIO official asked our correspondent to go to their Odongunyan office in Ikorodu to see the Area Commander, Mr. Oliyide Olanrewaju, to respond to the queries raised.
However, Olanrewaju declined to comment on the issues raised by our correspondent, saying that he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
Another senior official who later spoke to our correspondent anonymously, assured that the issue would be raised with the management of the command and that he would conduct a private investigation into the matter.
“VIO officials go through training and are not expected to collect bribes,” the official said.
Also, the Public Relations Officer of LASTMA, Mrs. Bola Ajao, declined to comment on the allegations against officials of the agency, saying she too was not authorised to speak to journalists. She directed our correspondent to the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba.
However, calls and text message sent to Ibirogba’s mobile phone were not answered.
But another official, who did not want to be named, insisted that the public shared the blame by encouraging LASTMA officials to collect bribe.
The official said, “If you know that you’re being wrongly arrested, tell the official to bring you to the office. We look at the proofs available and will never fine any motorist who did not commit an offence. But because many motorists are used to dealing with other law enforcement agencies where going to the office would mean paying more money whether they are guilty or not, they tend to think that it’s the same with LASTMA. There have been many cases where we have cancelled tickets issued to motorists here.”
The source also said that the issues raised by our correspondent would be investigated by the agency.
“Last year, about 500 LASTMA officials were sacked. Something like that did not even happen in the police. We have zero tolerance for graft and if these things are found to be true, the people will be made to face the music. But I can assure you that the touts could be touting for themselves, the transport union or other agencies, using LASTMA to create fear in motorists,” the source added.
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