30th October, 2019
The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit (Taskforce) has concluded arrangements to auction vehicles of 31 traffic offenders already convicted by the court for driving against oncoming traffic as well as 22 automobiles that were abandoned for over six months after their arrest.
Chairman of the Agency, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi disclosed that owners of the impounded vehicles who abandoned their cars have contravened the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, stating that public notice has been issued for owners of both the court forfeited and abandoned cars to identify their vehicles at the Agency’s car parks in Ikorodu and Bolade, Oshodi.
“At the expiration of the one month verification exercise, the Agency shall apply to court for an order of ‘Public Auction’ where members of the public would have opportunity to buy any of these vehicles,” the Chairman said.
Egbeyemi clarified that the owners of the vehicles forfeited to the government pleaded guilty before Magistrate Omobola Salawu of the Lagos State Mobile Court at Oshodi after their arrest for driving against traffic.
He affirmed that in addition to forfeiture of the vehicles, each traffic offender was sentenced to 100 hours of ‘Community Service’ at any public institution.
The Chairman, however, maintained that with the State government’s zero-tolerance for violation of the law, the Agency would continue to prosecute traffic offenders until sanity was restored on state roads and law abiding citizens were allowed to commute without being impeded by unlawful individuals.
Meanwhile, CSP Egbeyemi also confirmed that over 7,350 impounded motorcycles were presently in custody of the agency for plying restricted routes, including highways and bridges across the State.
He stated that the Agency was awaiting further directives from the government in respect of the impounded motorcycles, disclosing that the motorcyclists were apprehended around Agege, Pen-Cinema, Apapa, Ikorodu, Mile 2, Obalende, Oyingbo, 2nd Rainbow, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Ojota, Maryland, Yaba, Oshodi, Ikorodu Road, Apongbon, Ikeja and Iyana-Ipaja.