An official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Monday, injured three passengers of a commercial bus popularly called “danfo” because the bus driver allegedly resisted arrest.

The incident occurred at about 10: 30 a.m. at the Palm Groove Bus-stop on Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the errant LASTMA official, who rode in a patrol van with registration number EP 287 APP, driven by an official with the name tag Mr Enilolobo G, shattered the rear windscreen of the danfo bus with the heavy stone he hurled at it.

This development led to the smashing of the front windscreen of the LASTMA van by some irate protesters.

One of the injured passengers, Miss Sola Olufemi, told NAN that some LASTMA officers had chased the bus driver, Mr Kunle Sobulo, from Maryland after he was flagged down for an undisclosed traffic offence.   

Olufemi explained that during the process, one of the officers in the patrol van hurled a stone at the bus which shattered its rear screen.

She said that the broken glasses injured three passengers that were sitting at the rear seat of the bus.

The incident created commotion for many hours and it took the intervention of policemen from Alausa to restore law and order.

“We were coming from Maryland and all of a sudden, the LASTMA patrol vehicle tried to stop the driver but because the driver said he did not commit any offence, he refused to stop.

“Suddenly, we had a big bang on the rear screen of the bus, people started screaming which led to confusion in the bus and there was blood on some passengers as result of the shattered screen.

“The driver lost control and was able to swerve to safety. I thought we were going to die.  At a point,  I almost jumped down,” Olufemi said.

Olufemi said that it was when they alighted from the bus that they discovered that it was one of the two occupants in LASTMA that threw a stone at the bus.

Also, the driver of the bus, Mr Kunle Sobulo, told NAN that he refused to stop since he did not contravene any traffic rule.

Mr Lasisi Giwa, a LASTMA Traffic Superintendent Officer, described the incident as unfortunate.
Giwa said that the officer, who committed the crime, would be identified and punished while the injured passengers would be treated by the authority.

“We are not in support of what the officer did. We will investigate the incident and if found guilty, he will be dealt.