The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Olajide Oduyoye, says the agency will employ body camera technology as part of the measures to ensure offenders are apprehended with solid evidence.
He stated this on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily’ programme.
He said, “Technology is the way to go. Our Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is on top of that. He approved the deployment of technology for us to improve our communication last year 2020.
“This year, we are definitely hoping to start in the next few weeks what you will say are non-approachable offence dealings. That means we are going to be having body cameras on officers to capture incidences because things happen so fast and you can’t really say let me get my camera. But if you have your body camera on that is recording, then, you can capture all sorts of different things that you can use against offenders.”
“Those who willfully disobey traffic signs go in the middle of the night to remove those signs. When they are caught, they will say that there were no signs. They go and remove the signs to prove they aren’t aware of the signs. This happens all the time,” he said.
The LASTMA GM also made reference to a Sports Utility Vehicle driver, Sunday Okodo, who was caught in a viral video driving against traffic and tipping a policeman over a bridge along the International Airport Road, Lagos.
Oduyoye said the driver has been taken to court and charged with two counts of attempted murder and traffic violation, while the police inspector identified as David Zapaina, has been discharged from hospital.
“He is alive and he has been discharged from the hospital but it is more like he needs to seek more local intervention to reset his bones,” he added.
He therefore, cautioned road users in Lagos to obey traffic laws and accept consequences of their actions if they are apprehended for flouting the rules of the road.