Richard Ginika Izuora
The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit, has auctioned 44 vehicles seized from traffic offenders, who were convicted by the court.
Also to be auctioned are impounded 22 vehicles that were abandoned by their owners for over six months.
Lagos Taskforce Chairman, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, disclosed that owners of the impounded vehicles who abandoned their cars contravened the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018.
According to him, public notice had been issued for owners of both the court forfeited and abandoned vehicles to identify them at the agency’s car parks in Ikorodu and Bolade-Oshodi.
He said: “At the expiration of the one-month verification exercise, the agency shall apply to the court for an order of ‘Public Auction’ where members of the public would have opportunity to buy any of the vehicles”.
Egbeyemi said the owners of the vehicles forfeited to the government pleaded guilty before Magistrate Omobola Salawu of the Lagos State Mobile Court at Oshodi after their arrests for driving against traffic.
He affirmed that in addition to forfeiture of the vehicles; each traffic offender was sentenced to 100 days of ‘Community Service’ at any public institution.
Egbeyemi, however, maintained that with the state government’s zero-tolerance for violation of the law; the agency would continue to prosecute traffic offenders until sanity is restored on the roads; with law-abiding citizens allowed to commute without being impeded by unlawful individuals.