An erring motorist, who drove a Toyota Highlander SUV, brought out a gun and shot the traffic official, who had asked him to stop for violating the rule.
An official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, identified as Rotimi Adeyemo, was shot dead in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Alimosho Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Adeyemo, while controlling traffic at the Iyana-Ipaja roundabout, stopped a motorist, who was alleged to be an operative of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, for violating a traffic rule, but the motorist, who was apparently annoyed by the action of the LASTMA official, allegedly brought out a gun from his vehicle and shot the official dead.
An eyewitness, Uwem Okon, told PUNCH Metro that the motorist, who drove a Toyota Highlander SUV, brought out a gun and shot the traffic official, who had asked him to stop for violating the rule.
Okon added that onlookers first retreated after the motorist shot the LASTMA official, but later regrouped as the motorist was trying to make a quick escape and seized him.
Okon stated, “There was a heavy traffic at the Iyana-Ipaja roundabout around 6:23pm. The LATSMA official was busy controlling vehicles in order to ease the traffic when he discovered that a motorist had violated a traffic rule. So, he stopped to caution the motorist, but the motorist suddenly brought out a gun and shot him on the head. The official died on the spot.
“People were surprised and scared of confronting the motorist, who had wanted to escape from the scene when he discovered that he had killed the official. But the bystanders and commercial bus drivers later summoned the courage and apprehended the motorist, who was then handed over to the police.”
Another eyewitness, who did not want his identity revealed, said the motorist had no reason to shoot the LASTMA official for performing his duty, adding that he took the law into his own hand by perpetrating such a crime.
He alleged that the motorist was later identified as an operative of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The eyewitness said, “The LASTMA official had already told him to leave before the motorist decided to shoot him. He shot the man for performing his duty. This is wrong because he took the law into his own hands.
“The motorist was later discovered to be an operative of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad. He was arrested and taken to the nearest police station at Iyana-Ipaja for interrogation.”
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said he had not been briefed about the incident.
But the Public Relations Officer of LASTMA, Mr Mahmud Hassan, confirmed that an official was killed by a motorist on duty in Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.
“I have just confirmed the sad news that a motorist killed our official while on duty at Iyana-Ipaja. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested. We have commenced investigation into the incident,” Hassan added.
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