Commuters plying the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway were on Tuesday stranded as some commercial drivers protested against alleged harassment and extortion by personnel of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, aka task force.
The drivers, who carried placards with various inscriptions, including, ‘End LASTMA brutality’, ‘End task force wahala’, and ‘End task force in Lagos State,’ set bonfires on the road inward Oshodi and prevented commercial vehicles and motorcycles from carrying passengers.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the protest grounded movement from Iyana-Isolo to Mile 2, as the protesting drivers assaulted passengers and traders inside buses.
However, our correspondent gathered that some weapon-wielding hoodlums later hijacked the protest and unleashed mayhem on commuters.
It was gathered that the drivers were angry that the task force officials were installing one-way signage on roads that used to be bi-directional.
One of the protesting drivers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that his two buses were impounded by the task force.
He said, “Two of my buses were impounded by task force officials and I had to pay N55,000 to get one of them back. The operatives are fond of harassing us unnecessarily; the Airport Road has been closed for repairs and we have to follow one-way; they arrest us despite knowing that the usual road has been blocked.”
Another driver, Kayode Adelegan, urged the state government to come to the rescue of the drivers.
He said, “We are tired of these task force officials; they are fond of extorting us and we are tired of paying. They come out every day with new rules and use them to extort us. There is no job; we created jobs for ourselves by driving buses in Lagos, yet we are still being disturbed and extorted by this task force.
“We want the state government to come to our rescue by scrapping this task force; they are causing serious problems.”
The Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the agency, Femi Moliki, in a statement, said 16 miscreants were arrested, adding that the task force Chairman, Shola Jejeloye, promised to address the grievances of the drivers.
The statement read in part, “The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit has arrested 16 miscreants believed to have masterminded violence and robbing of commuters in Iyana Cele and Iyana Isolo. The miscreants, who capitalised on the peaceful no work protest embarked upon by drivers of commercial buses on Oshodi-Mile 2 Expressway to unleash mayhem on commuters, were caught molesting passersby and destroying public facilities.
“The Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, Shola Jejeloye, who was in the area to maintain law and order as well as listen to some of the aggrieved protesters, called for calm that the government would address their grievances. He added that no official of Lagos State task force operates between Toyota and Mile 2, adding that the agency is presently rejigging its operation to prevent reported incidences of illegal task force operatives in the metropolis.”
Moliki noted that machetes, charms, cudgels and other weapons were recovered from the suspects.