A special team set up by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation (MOT) to remove abandoned vehicles is enmeshed in allegations bordering on brutality and extortion of truckers in the metropolis, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
IBRAHIM (surname withheld), one of the drivers whose trucks were parked off Ize Iyamu Street, in Oregun area of Ikeja, Lagos, decided on October 9, 2020 to sleep in the driver’s seat of his truck as usual.
Like always, the decision was informed by the need to avoid the hazards that go with night journey, which is made worse by bad roads and frequent robberies on the highways. By sleeping in his car at the location where it was parked, he could load the goods he needed from the premises of a nearby manufacturing company as early as possible for onward transportation to one of the North Central states.
But while Ibrahim was fast asleep, he was brutally assaulted by some people alleged to be officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation’s (MOT) Special Committee on Abandoned Vehicles at about 2 am.
Initially, he thought that the uninvited guests were robbers, only to realise that they were even more dangerous. The nocturnal officials had stormed the area in no fewer than four vehicles, attacking every truck driver at sight.
Ibrahim said: “I thought that they might be robbers because they had never been that fiendish in their midnight raid. They are fond of coming to arrest and extort us with threats of arrest, so it did not occur to me that they could be brutal in their approach this time around.
“I had to run as fast I could when they landed series of blows on my face and also tried to use their horsewhip on me. They chased me across Ize Iyamu Street and backed off only after I vanished into the thick darkness of that night.”
Ibrahim’s assistant, Umar, who also escaped the fury of the squad, said he was still nursing an ankle injury from the incident.
He said: “Although, like my oga (Ibrahim) I managed to escape the wrath of the squad, it was not without an ankle injury which I sustained in a bid to evade their horsewhip.
“It is sad that government officials could resort to such cruelty in their clandestine operation or midnight raid, which to my mind is unlawful.”
While Ibrahim and his assistant narrowly escaped the brutality of that night, one of his colleagues identified simply as Segun was not that lucky as he was awakened from his sleep with slaps and kicks.
Dazed by the attack, Segun, who works as a truck driver with a household utensil company on the adjoining Akanni Doherty Close, still managed to figure out what was going on by raising the alarm, not knowing that his colleagues were also receiving their own doses of the assaults.
According to a source, Segun had demanded an explanation from his attackers, but by the time he saw the need to flee from them, his body had become bloodied and scalded by a combination of hard wire and horsewhip, so much so that the young man landed in the hospital where he received medical treatment for days.
A source who witnessed the night the team allegedly led by one Sesan unleashed brutality on the drivers described the action of the team as wicked and uncivilised.
“It was the most cruel action expected from civil servants. They were very uncivil in their conduct as they attacked us with whips and sticks, leaving some of us badly wounded and lacerated.
“I had never seen a thing like that before. Our trucks are parked without obstructing human or vehicular movement on the street. We did not park our trucks there illegally, yet they would usually come at night to move our trucks and collect illegal money as bribe.
“This time, they came at about 2 am. Initially, we thought we were being attacked by robbers, but it soon dawned on us that they were the same officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation that have been disturbing, exploiting and extorting money from us all in the name of carrying out enforcement in the dead of the night.
“A few of our colleagues who were caught unawares suffered severe injuries after they were horsewhipped and beaten to a pulp by the heartless officials.
“One of the victims named Segun, who was not wearing any shirt at the time, had his body badly lacerated by rolled wire and horsewhip used by the unfeeling men. Yet, we gathered that they impounded his truck and later released it after about N20,000 was paid to his attackers.
Same narratives at Adeniyi Jones, Ijora, Mile 2, Surulere, others
The controversial operations of the enforcement squad is not limited to the Oregun industrial hub, but other industrial estates and commercial centres like Wahum axis of Adeniyi Jones in Ikeja, Ijora, Mile 2 and Bode Thomas area of Surulere, where raids are constantly carried out on truck drivers in the dead of the night.
A driver who recently had an encounter with the squad said: “They are no fewer than 12 places in Lagos metropolis where they constantly raid and extort money from drivers at odd hours. You need to see them collecting cash without any receipt. I guess they are given targets by their superiors.
“They claimed that it is residents who usually invite them to clear their streets of vehicles. They have also been going to Mile 2, Wahum axis of Ikeja, Bode Thomas area of Surulere and Ijora, among others.”
According to sources, a recent raid by the squad in Ijora almost resulted in fracas after enraged drivers confronted them over incessant extortion in the name of enforcement at odd hours.
One of the drivers identified as Mohammed said the MOT officials had turned truck drivers into cash cows through the raids.
He said: “Many of us pass the night in our trucks in order to hit the road as early as possible in the morning. But we are usually terrified when they come here to raid and extort us at odd hours.
“They beat us, threaten us with arrest and evacuation of our trucks to their yards at Alausa and Oshodi, all in a bid to make us pay bribe to prevent them from impounding our trucks.
“The money they collect from us are not receipted, yet they continue to raid us unabashedly until one night recently when we resisted them and they beat a retreat after the confrontation was degenerating into fracas.”
Another driver, Ahmed Udoko, queried the motive behind the use of brutal force on drivers, saying: “Despite the fact that we don’t use our trucks to block the road, the MOT terrors would storm our base, attack us unnecessarily and forcibly tow our trucks to their yard where we secure their release after paying cash as bribe.
“What is the reason behind their operations at wee hours, if it’s not to exploit and extort us?
“Many of our colleagues have paid several thousands of naira as bribe to the team for the release of their trucks forcibly impounded during their nefarious operations at wee hours.”
Unveiling the enforcement team
The Nation findings revealed that the team, led by one Sesan, operates from a ramshackle yard on ASSBIFI Road inside the Central Business District (CBD) in Alausa, Ikeja.
The yard, which is opposite the popular Elephant Building, is where impounded trucks are parked by the squad with their tyres deflated until their owners allegedly settle with cash, following which the vehicles are released.
At the yard, our correspondent, who visited the place during the week, sighted some trucks apparently impounded by the controversial squad with one of their towing vehicles stationed close to the trucks on ASSBIFI Road.
Inside the yard were some officials of the MOT seated under some canopies used by recharge card sellers and traders. One of the men was sighted discussing how some owners of the trucks had abandoned them because they didn’t have the money to pay.
A source, who spoke in confidence for fear of being hunted, narrated how his truck was recently impounded and his driver assaulted.
He said: “Sesan is the leader of the enforcement gang. He has two immediate bosses, one of which is called Edu, but Sesan is very stubborn and rarely defers to him. He does not listen to his two bosses.
“I have had to secure the release of my vehicle impounded at their yard after my driver was beaten up by the team. They are messing up big time. The money is not receipted for. They collected mine under a canopy opposite the Elephant Building on ASSBIFI Road, CBD, Alausa, Ikeja.”
The ministry, however, said it was not aware of the illegal enforcement carried out by the special team.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the Head of Public Affairs Department in the ministry, Mrs Bola Ogunlola, explained that the Special Committee on Abandoned Vehicles lacked the mandate to carry out enforcement at odd hours.
She said the committee is empowered to evacuate abandoned vehicles, including trucks or articulated vehicles, only after the expiration of a warning duly served on the owners of such vehicles or pasted on the vehicle within a week or two.
She said the MOT was not aware that some members of the committee had been conducting themselves unlawfully outside their mandate.
Ogunlola said: “Yes, we have a Special Committee on Removal of Abandoned Vehicles, but a notice would have been served on either the vehicle owners or pasted on the vehicles, including trucks, if the owner could not be located.
“It is only after the expiration of the notice, which could be one or two weeks that the Committee could carry out any enforcement or evacuation.
“Even at that, they are only expected to carry out any enforcement in broad daylight, not at odd hours. They also are not given the right to brutalise drivers of such vehicles.
“Therefore, we are unaware that some of them might have been conducting themselves in a manner that is outside of their mandate.”
She urged those who have complainants against the activities or actions of the Committee to forward their grievances to the ministry, assuring that such complaints would receive immediate attention.
She said: “Tell the victims or complainants to formally lodge their complaints via a letter to the ministry and their grievances would be seriously looked into.
“As for the extortion allegations, no one is permitted to engage in cash transaction on behalf of the ministry, and the Committee has no operational office outside of the ministry’s office here in Alausa. Any yard or office being used to attend to truckers or extort them is unknown to the ministry.”
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