Before now, there have been various reports about policemen attached to LAMATA BRT taskforce along the Ketu-Ikorodu road, about their illicit activities towards motorists. These police officers attached to this axis will stand at strategic spots waiting to catch private motorists along that route, except for Danfo and commercial drivers.
I have read many stories about these policemen who act as though they are honestly collecting money for state government to boost the internal revenue. Unknown to the public and those who put the taskforce there, most of the money goes to the policemen and not the government purse. It is only when they arrest a motorist who is not willing to give them bribe; that they lead the motorists to the court to face legal action.
In as much as an arrested motorist is willing to dance to their tune, the taskforce squad would set them free after collecting gratifications.
I have read many reports about the illicit activities of the taskforce squad attached to the BRT routes, especially on how they subject motorists to harassment and extortion. However, not until it happened to me on October 13, 2022, along Asolo Junction, Ikorodu Road, then I realised that most of the reports are nothing but the truth. On that day, I was en route to the funeral service of the Lagos State University (LASU) Vice Chancellor’s mother, at Victoria Island when suddenly these policemen stopped my car.
About ten of them sprang towards me and I thought they wanted to greet me since I usually get such cordial niceties because of my private number plate, MKO 70, but I was wrong this time.
Within a twinkle of an eye about four of the policemen jumped in front of my car and asked my driver to alight. I asked what was going on and they accused me of driving on the prioritized BRT lane.
The accusation came to me as a rude shock because the last thing I would do is allow my driver take the BRT lane. When I was trying to explain to the squad that I have never plied the BRT lane in my life and would never do that because I am aware of the sanctions.
Moreover, at that time of the day, the traffic was clear and there was ease of car movement, why would I want to do that? Before I could say Jack Robinson, one of them pounced on my driver and wrestles the car keys from him and threw it to one of his officers.
They insisted I should follow them to the taskforce office at Ketu, as they would not listen to me. While they ordered me to follow them to the office, one of them politely approached me and advised that I offer some bribe to prevent going to their office over the issue. According to him, it would take time for the court to clear my case and my car would be impounded till then. Besides, I will pay demurrage for my impounded car even after the court acquitted me. I understood his logic but I was innocent and have been wrongly accused in broad daylight. The next private car behind me was accused of same offence while the Danfos who gleefully drove off on the BRT lane were zooming away, and not being chased. I decided to follow them to their yard in Ketu and see perhaps there would a superior office there that would listen to my side of the story.
While we were heading to the BRT yard at Ketu, the police officer who joined me in my car ordered my driver to drive through the BRT lane, I didn’t understand what he was trying to do but my driver did not comply until the policeman threatened to shot my driver right in my car, I was flabbergasted by the share misuse of power. While my driver complied with his orders, the policeman began filming my vehicle with his cell phone as we drive through the BRT lane to their yard in Ketu.
On arriving at their yard, my car, a white Lexus Jeep with customised number plate MKO 70 and the other private car behind me were handed over to two officers in the yard. A man and female officers stationed in the BRT yard detained our cars without any interrogation. The police officers who brought us in left us immediately because I refused to bargain with them. The other private car owner who could not meet the taskforce demand was also left with me in the BRT yard.
The two officers in the yard who looked like civilians were so rude and they were obstinate for no reason, they too refused to hear my side of the story.
I, therefore, had no choice but to phone the Commissioner of Transportation, Honourable Oladeinde who was gracious to attend to me from a meeting and I explained to the commissioner what happened at the Asolo Junction. I told the honourable commissioner that I am a law-abiding citizen who has been openly cheated by this illicit taskforce squad. The commissioner pleaded with me and said he would call the Special Adviser (SA) on Transportation to look into the matter.
True to his words, the commissioner arranged for the SA, Mr. Giwa, to investigate the issue by liaising with the BRT taskforce boss, Mr. Akerele.
Shortly after, the BRT taskforce boss, Mr. Akerele came into the yard, about 30 minutes after the phone call. A perfect gentleman, he politely listened to our side of the story and said the policemen from the Asolo junction had sent him footage of our vehicle driving at the BRT lane. I countered that ploy by the policemen and explained to Mr. Akerele what actually happened. I narrated how the policeman forced my driver to take the BRT lane while he was in our car and filmed the video he sent to the boss. I also clarify the situation of the Asolo Junction where there is a big pot hole that vehicles avoid by swerving into the BRT lane and swerve out to join the public lane, that these policemen squad would wait there to prey on motorists in spite the conspicuous situation at the point of the road, and argue with motorists. That point has been a base for the taskforce squad to extort motorists wrongly and coerce them to pay unwarranted fines.
After the assessment, Mr. Akerele called the two officers in the office and told them to release my car and the other man arrested with me at the same spot. I pleaded with him to release another woman who was there since about 9 a.m., and was there till about 1 p.m. because she had no N70, 000 (seventy thousand naira) nor bribe to offer the officers. Fortunately, the woman is a staff of LASU and was also on her way to the funeral of the VC’s mother at Victoria Island. I was happy, thanked and prayed for Mr. Akerele who was fair in handling the situation amicably.
Initially, I decided not to write about the incident, but the following week a reoccurrence happened at the same spot as one of my sisters who owned the popular fuel station at Sabo-Ikorodu, Alhaja Kazeem, phoned me to intervene on her behalf after her friend was arrested along that axis. When I narrated my ordeal to her along the road some days earlier, she was surprised.
She said the taskforce squad was demanding for N70, 000 (seventy thousand naira) but her boss offered them N20, 000 (twenty thousand naira), nonetheless they refused. After increasing the offer to N30, 000 (thirty thousand naira), the policemen accepted the money and let her go, without lodging the case in their office.
That evening, I phoned the commissioner to report the recent ordeal of my sister’s friend in the hands of the BRT taskforce squad and the commissioner promised to investigate the matter.
The questions on the lips of many motorists who had gone through similar ordeal in the hands of this BRT taskforce squad remain, why would these men sabotage government’s effort to sanitize our road by unlawfully arresting innocent motorists and extort them at will?
The annoying part is that most of the touts who drive Danfo defiantly break these road regulations right under the nose of these taskforce squads and nothing happens. The taskforce seems to specialize in arresting gentle private car owners who comport themselves in public facilities.
I believe the government can, and should check this illegal and unfair activities of the taskforce attached to the BRT, by sending government agency officials to disguise themselves in private cars.
By so doing, they would nab the criminal elements amongst the taskforce and sieve them out of the system.
Many of the people I talked to about their experience said they would never forget in a hurry how these exuberant taskforce squads repeatedly take their cars to Ketu where they pay huge sums of about N50,000 to N70,000 (fifty to seventy thousand naira) for unnamed offences.
Some of the victims said they complied in paying the bribes because they wouldn’t want to go through the rigour of court case and end up paying demurrage even after being acquitted by the court.
My appeal to Governor Sanwo-Olu, is, please, help us outlaw the illicit activities of BRT taskforce who hide under the guise of taskforce to terrorize and extort motorists along the Ikorodu-Ojota route.
The governor should make the LASTMA officials, who have the statutory mandate to direct Lagos State traffic, take over the monitoring of BRT lanes and not the policemen.
I couldn’t stop thinking that if I, as a Publisher, could be treated by these highhanded police office publicly like that, imagine what they are doing to the ordinary man on the street who has no contacts of superior men in office to call.
One can only imagine what ordinary citizens go through in the hands of the recalcitrant, coldhearted taskforce squad. Poor civilians who are struggling with their meager salaries are facing a lot whenever they are unfortunate to come in contact with these bad officers.