A commercial bus driver, Ibrahim Yusuf, has been arrested for allegedly brutalising an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Victor Awotola, around the River Valley Estate area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Yusuf was obstructing vehicular movements along the route when Awotola, alongside other officers of the agency, attempted to impound his vehicle.
The driver was said to have reached for a knife which he used to stab the victim in the head and neck.
The suspect, after perpetrating the act, abandoned his vehicle and fled the scene.
The LASTMA General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, on Wednesday, condemned the attack in a statement by a spokesperson for the agency, Olamide Filade.
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The statement read in part, “The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Bolaji Oreagba, has said henceforth, the Lagos State Government will no longer tolerate any act of assault, physical attack or attempted murder on any official working for the government, especially LASTMA officers.
“The perpetrators of such misdemeanours will be made to face the full wrath of the law by the state government. Oreagba said this in the light of an attempted murder by a Zuzuki commercial minibus driver (korope) with number plate KJA 953 YE, Ibrahim Yusuf, on a dutiful LASTMA officer, Victor Awotola, operating at the Ojodu-Berger-Ogba axis.
Awotola attempted, along with the patrol team, to apprehend Yusuf, who was causing obstruction around 3.30pm on Saturday, February 12, 2022. The general manager noted that assault on government officials while carrying out their lawful duties is becoming too rampant and government is ready to put a stop to this through diligent prosecution of such person(s) no matter how highly placed in the society.”
The statement revealed that the chairman of a transport union in the community produced the suspect at the Ojodu Police Station, where he was detained.
The Legal Director of LASTMA, Kehinde Akerele, noted that Yusuf would be charged with attempted murder, adding that the state government would diligently prosecute the case to serve as a deterrent to others.
