23rd November, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday decided to write a letter of protest to the authorities of 9 Division of the Nigerian Army over the recent military brutality against officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.
The House decision was the result of a motion moved by a member of the House representing Ibeju Lekki Constituency 1, Fatai Mojeed, under Matter of Urgent Public Importance.
While condemning the action, Mojeed urged his colleagues to support him as the impunity of some officers of the Nigerian military was getting out of hand.
Mojeed told his colleagues that some men of the Nigerian Army beat up some officers of LASTMA on 17 November.
The alleged offence of the LASTMA officers was that they stopped the soldiers from driving on the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, corridor.
He said the LASTMA officers on duty who tried to book the offenders were brutalised.
“One of the men Col. Mustapha and his colleagues was identified to be from 9 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maryland, Ikeja,” the lawmaker said.
While deliberating on the issue, Speaker Mudashiru Obasa described the act as barbaric and that this must be condemned.
“This is a democratic era and not a military era and everything should be done in order. This kind of impunity should not be allowed. It is barbaric.
“Let Mr Clerk write a letter to the authorities of the Army Division and state the names of the officers concerned to foster orderliness in the state,” he said.