An operative of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, was stabbed in the head by a bus driver during a tussle at his duty post in Ojota, Lagos.
Witnesses say the officer, identified as Hassan K, was attacked with a screwdriver that pierced into his skin. His uniform was soaked in blood and left severely injured.
Mr Hassan was then rushed to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for his wounds.
The unidentified driver is on the run, but the motive behind the attack is unknown, LASTMA boss, Bolaji Oreagba, who confirmed the attack, said.
“The commercial bus driver and his conductor took to their heels after carrying out the assault on the LASTMA officer. The driver of the yellow Volkswagen bus, popularly called ‘vanagon’, with plate number LSD 28 XY, was found passing through the dedicated BRT corridor at Ojota towards Ketu when he was accosted,” Mr Oreagba said.
Mr Oreagba noted that he received a report from the Ojota zonal head that the officer is out of danger and currently undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital.
He warned that attacks on traffic managers will not be tolerated, adding that there will be severe punishment to offenders that attack traffic officials while at their duty post.
“These attacks will no longer be tolerated and attackers when caught will be made to face the full wrath of the law, attacks on traffic managers attract stiffer penalty and punishment than disobeying traffic laws, and as such perpetrators will be dealt with severely to serve as deterrent to any would-be offender,” he said
He explained that the cosmopolitan status of the state had necessitated proactive traffic management with enforcement in order to ensure sanity across the state, adding that “no traffic law violator would be allowed to go scot-free, especially in these ‘ember months as the state government is not prepared to endanger the safety and security of the people of Lagos State.”
He urged the public to be law-abiding at all times in order to ensure free-flow of traffic and sanity on Lagos roads.