Although there is a ‘no entry’ sign hung on a metallic pole at Coker Road in Ilupeju area of Lagos State, there are chances that drivers coming from Awoyokun Street may still drive through the one-way route and be arrested by lurking policemen and state traffic officers for breaking traffic rule. This is because there is a towering police traffic control shelter box, blocking the visibility of the sign.
A roadside trader in the area who pleaded anonymity, exposed the tricks used by the police and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority to extort money from erring drivers. He said the policemen usually put on plain clothes and hide within the neighbourhood to arrest any driver who contravenes the order.
He said, “Although the big traffic control shelter box is empty, policemen are around watching from a corner. They are only waiting for drivers who will break the traffic order. Once a vehicle drives through the wrong direction, they will run out from their hiding to make arrest. They have arrested many and taken money from them before freeing them. It has become a daily activity for the police to make money.”
The trader added that not all offenders were taken to the police station or charged officially.
Ilupeju is not the only area where police and the state traffic agency are milking motorists who fail to see the road sign. In other areas of the state, the sign is either missing or knocked down by vehicles.
One of such areas is Adeshina Street on the road leading to the University of Lagos. The ‘no-entry’ sign is obscure and most drivers would have driven past it before they realise their error. Drivers on this road are easily trapped as they would have driven to the middle of the road before realising that they had committed a traffic offence. By then, policemen would have emerged from nowhere ready to arrest them. Those who are familiar with the road say policemen hide under the trees nearby and emerge once a vehicle falls into the ‘trap.’
On Barikisu Iyede Street in the same area, there are enough signs to warn motorists.
Unlike others, the street is manned by policemen in uniform and officials of the Yaba Local Council Development Area wearing shirts with the inscription ‘Task Force Against Indiscriminate Parking.’ There, it is an offence to enter the street through the university road but a lady who seemed to be confused was arrested for violating the traffic rule. She said the police tricked her to take the road before her arrest, stressing that she inquired from one of them sitting under the tree and that she only proceeded after being told to go on.
“I am not too familiar with this road.” So when I got to the junction at Iyede, I asked one of the policemen sitting under a tree if I could go straight, he nodded, meaning that I could move on. But to my surprise as I drove on, two of them ran towards me and said I had broken the traffic law. They demanded for my driver’s licence and said I should drive to a corner on the street,” she said. While the lady was arguing that she was given the clear by the police, another driver who was about to take the road from the wrong end was unlucky. The policemen and traffic officials from the LCDA seemed to be expecting a prey as they swooped on the driver, forcing him to a stop.
Narrating his experience to one of our correspondents, another victim, who identified himself as Banabas, said he had just returned from the United Kingdom and was not too familiar with the UNILAG routes after all the changes. Barnabas said he had to part with N2, 000 before he was released by the police.
“A day after my return from the UK, I decided to visit a friend so I drove through the UNILAG road. I was surprised when policemen and traffic officers from the LCDA stopped me and charged me with traffic offence. I protested but they explained that I drove on the wrong side of the road which according to them was a one-way offence.”
“I told them that I was not too familiar with the UNILAG routes but they were bent on taking my car away. They offered me a way out of the trouble after begging them. It was either I paid a heavy fine at the police station or I gave them money on the spot. They demanded for N5,000 but I later paid N2,000.”
At Somolu Kee Klamp market in Onipanu area of Lagos State, a woman who gave her name Labake was arrested for driving against the traffic. She claimed that there was no sign to direct motorists on the road, wondering why she had to pay for an offence she did not commit intentionally.
“I was taken to the local government council office but I refused to pay. I called a friend who linked me up with top council officer before I was released,” she said.
Mr. Victor Chukwuemeka had a similar experience at Charlie Boy Bus Stop, Gbagada, Lagos. He had barely made the entry into the one-way zone when he was stopped before he could drive back to the main road.
“I was about entering the road, my two front tyres had just crossed the borderline when two policemen stopped me. They said I had broken the law by taking a one-way route but I told them that they should have ordered me to turn back since I had not really entered the road. They said I would need to follow them to check if I had passed that route and to know if I had broken the law before. When I got to their office, they demanded that I pay N20,000 for my release, but I told them that I did not have that amount. A few hours later, they released me, but this was because I reported my case to a senior officer within the Local Government Area,” Chukwuemeka said.
Femi Ayeni was to deliver a speech during a sport event at the UNILAG Sports Complex last December. Having been held in the traffic, he was running late for the programme and like many other motorists, he did not notice the road sign that was installed among the trees lining the road side. He was stopped by the policemen who demanded for his driver’s licence and vehicle particulars. The alternative was for him to pay N5,000 on the spot. Because he was late for the programme, he had to cough out the money.
He said, “Missing the event would have had serious implication on my work and image. I was trapped between making the payment and putting my work on the line. I paid them and one of them even followed me to the end of the road, driving through the same route they arrested me for plying.
“I am sure that I would not be the only person in that situation. If changes are being made to traffic directions on a route, motorists have the right to be educated on the new changes. Our traffic officers are not professional about their work. They only want people to commit traffic offences so that they can extort them. There is nothing wrong in correcting a motorist who is about to take a wrong route unknowingly.”
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, Lagos, Mr. Akpabio Nseobong, however, said any good driver should be aware of the various road signs and changes.
He said drivers do not need an official of either the state traffic management authority or the FRSC to interpret road signs for him or her.
“You do not need a traffic officer to interpret traffic signs. Before 2010, Nigeria did not comply with the international road safety signs. But by 2011, we were on track. The road signs used in the UK are the same road signs used in Nigeria. Motorists need to be patient when driving and they should make sure they observe road signs,” he said. He further said if a driver was on high speed, he or she would not notice the signs.
Attempts to speak with the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, failed and she did not respond to the text message sent to her mobile phone by one of our correspondents.
Efforts to reach the Public Relations Officer of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Mrs. Bola Ajao, were futile as her phone was switched off. A text message was also sent to her on Friday evening but our correspondent did not get a reply.
However, a reliable source in the agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the state government’s order barring public officials from speaking to the press, cleared officers of the agency of any wrongdoing.
The source said some commercial bus drivers were in the habit of removing road signs to evade arrest.
‘‘We have a challenge that no sooner than a ‘no entry’ sign is erected in a place than it will be removed. This is done especially by commercial drivers who want to evade the law and escape arrest. We are working to frustrate such plans. The goal of the agency is to save lives and ensure sanity on Lagos roads. No official of LASTMA will deliberately arrest a motorist who has not committed any offence. That is why we gave our men cameras and other gadgets to document any incident for evidence purposes. Again, the onus lies on any driver to understand the road signs because ignorance is not an excuse in law,” the source said.
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