From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos
Following a clash between men of the Federal Task Force and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in Lagos, on Monday, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday told Lagosians to resist the Federal Task Force team, currently parading as traffic officials on Lagos highways.
Fashola said the only agencies recognised by law to manage traffic in the state are the Federal Roads Safety Corps (for Federal roads) and LASTMA, adding that the “illegal” Federal Task Force were constituted to create confusion in the state.
Arguments on whose right it was to control traffic on federal roads in Lagos led to a face-off between men of the Task Force (under the auspices of SURE-P/FERMA recruitment initiative) and LASTMA, around the old toll gate end of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The brawl, it was gathered, led to injuries on two LASTMA officials.
Fashola, at the fifth anniversary of Uniformed Voluntary Clubs in Lagos state public schools, on Tuesday in Lagos, said that the Task Force group had political agenda ahead of the 2015 elections.
Fashola added that “perpetuation of such illegalities” is not new, citing that similar attempt was tried in 2006 but did not produce any result “because they were roundly defeated”, he said.
