The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), through its Traffic Management Solution (TMS) devices, captured 20,000 vehicles for traffic infractions in 2024.

The offences include illegal parking, traffic obstruction, and dropping or picking of passengers at undesignated bus stops. 

LASTMA introduced TMS in July 2023.

Taofiq Adebayo, LASTMA spokesperson, made this known in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Lagos.

Mr Adebayo also said the authority physically apprehended 16,824 vehicles for traffic infractions in 2024. He said 8,535 of the 16,824 vehicles were commercial vehicles.

According to Mr Adebayo, in 2023, LASTMA physically apprehended 22,927 vehicles, 15,025 of which were commercial vehicles.

Mr Adebayo said the figures showed a reduction of 6,103 for physically apprehended vehicles and 6,490 for commercial vehicles. He attributed this to the agency’s enlightenment campaign.

“ The LASTMA general manager, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, came on board in November 2023, and by January 2024, he started with the training of officers. By December 2024, out of about 4,335 LASTMA staff, 4,305 were trained,” he said.

Mr Adebayo told journalists that the training was on emotional intelligence, work ethics and human rights.

Mr Adebayo said fines imposed on motorists were in line with the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018.

“We don’t impose fines; it is the magistrate who will pronounce the fine to be paid into the government coffers,” he said.

Mr Adebayo said that one of the aims of LASTMA’s toll-free line was to safeguard people from being manipulated into paying fines to the wrong hands.

He said LASTMA dismissed, suspended and demoted erring officers.

“For the year 2024, we had 26 officers in this category, and out of this number, we had 13 that were dismissed from the job, five were demoted and eight faced suspension,” he said. 

(NAN)