A pastor, Anthony Esezobor, has accused officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority of threatening his life after his Mercedes Benz SUV was impounded by the agency nine months ago.
According to the cleric, the SUV was impounded by men of the Zone 30 command over what was described as “wilful obstruction of oncoming traffic.”
He said the incident happened on May 15, 2019, while he drove in the Surulere area of the state.
Esezobor told PUNCH Metro that efforts to retrieve his SUV were futile, adding that the patrol leader of Zone 30, one Mr Williams, allegedly imposed a fine of N300,000 on him.
The pastor said, “I know my SUV was unlawfully impounded, so I had no choice but to tell my lawyer to file a suit at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos. We have appeared in court several times and LASTMA authorities refused to come to court.
“On November 1, 2019, they called for a meeting asking for settlement out of court and after the meeting, the Director of Legal Department of LASTMA, Mr Kehinde Akerele, promised to do a report to the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Olajide Oduyoye, to release my car. But till date, my car is still unlawfully held at their office in the Alaka area of Surulere. Also, the charge against me was changed to ‘wrongful overtaking.’
“My lawyer has written to the LASTMA GM, the state Commissioner for Transportation and no action has been taken. Instead, Oduyoye and his team have been insisting on me signing an undertaking to withdraw the matter from court before my car would be released.”
Esezobor alleged that his life had been under threat, saying LASTMA officials broke into his car to get his office address.
He said, “On January 13, 29 and 30, 2020, two LASTMA officers came to look for me on three separate occasions. One of the officers who had my picture on his phone was showing the picture to people around asking if they knew me. My car was registered with my office address, so the LASTMA guys broke into my car that is still with them and got my office address from the car’s particulars.
