Danfo driver stabs LASTMA official with screwdriver in head

A Danfo driver has stabbed an officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in the head with a screwdriver.

It was learnt that the Danfo driver has been on the run after stabbing the officer. His whereabouts have remained a mystery as other officers of LASTMA have been searching for him after he assaulted one of their colleagues.

It was gathered that activities around the Ojota area in Kosofe Local Government Area of the state, where the incident happened, was brought to a halt yesterday after the assaulted LASTMA officer, identified as Hassan K, was attacked by the commercial driver who took to his heels upon sighting blood gushing down from his victim’s head.

Confirming the development, the LASTMA General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, stated that the traffic officer was attacked and severely injured with a screwdriver on the head while carrying out his official duty at his beat under Ojota Interchange inwards Ketu.

Oreagba said the officer, who was soaked in blood, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where his health has been stabilised as revealed by the Zonal Head of that beat.

“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,” Oreagba said.

The LASTMA GM who frowned at the development, noted that attacks and assaults on his men and officers will no longer be tolerated., saying “these attacks will no longer be tolerated and attackers, when caught, will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

Oreagba said that the cosmopolitan status of the state had necessitated proactive traffic management with enforcement 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.”

The LASTMA boss, however, urged the motoring public to be always law-abiding to ensure the free flow of traffic and sanity on Lagos roads. “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 a deterrent to any would-be offender,” Oreagba noted.