LAWMA SWEEPER KILLED BY COMMERCIAL BUS, DRIVER APPREHENDED — LASTMA
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By: Sefiu Ajape
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has confirmed the death of a Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) operative in a road traffic incident along Meran Road, inward Iyana Ekoro axis of Lagos.
In a statement released on Saturday via the agency’s official X account and signed by the Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, LASTMA said the female operative “was conscientiously engaged in her lawful environmental sanitation duties” when she was hit by a blue Ford commercial bus with registration number BDG 495 YH that was “recklessly and unlawfully reversing on the expressway.”
According to the statement, “the vehicle forcefully rammed into the unsuspecting LAWMA sweeper who was carrying out routine roadside cleaning. The severe impact, particularly to the head region, proved instantly fatal.”
LASTMA said its officers on active traffic surveillance duties “swiftly mobilised to the scene upon receipt of the distress report.”
The agency added that “the driver had absconded from the crash site in a desperate attempt to evade accountability,” but officers immediately pursued the fleeing vehicle, apprehended the driver and escorted him, alongside the vehicle, back to the scene.
The suspect and the vehicle “were subsequently handed over to security men from the Meiran Police Division for comprehensive investigation and prosecution in accordance with extant laws,” LASTMA said, noting that the prompt action also “averted a potential breach of public peace, as the suspect was on the verge of being subjected to mob action by enraged members of the public.”
The remains of the deceased were “respectfully evacuated from the scene by LAWMA officials using an official LAWMA vehicle for further necessary procedures,” the statement added.
Expressing deep sorrow over the incident, LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, described the loss as “both distressing and preventable,” while extending “heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, colleagues and loved ones of the fallen LAWMA operative. We fervently pray that Almighty God grants them fortitude and divine strength required to endure the irreplaceable loss.”
Bakare-Oki condemned the act of reversing on an expressway, stressing that it “constitutes a serious traffic offence and a blatant contravention of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018,” and cautioned motorists against “reckless, unlawful driving practices which continually result in needless fatalities and public sorrow.”
He also commended the “vigilance, courage and swift response of LASTMA Officers involved in the incident, particularly for ensuring the suspect’s apprehension and preventing his escape from justice.”
LASTMA recalled a similar incident that occurred days earlier, in which a truck collided with four vehicles, leaving two people dead and three others critically injured. Bakare-Oki said the driver of the Silo Mixer Truck “absconded from the scene upon realising the gravity of the incident.”
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