Fake Soldier Arraigned For Assaulting LASTMA Officers

A fake soldier, Kingsley Ighalo , 37, has been arraigned on a five-count charge at the Special Offences Magistrate Court in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria for assaulting an officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.
He was arraigned before Magistrate Yetunde Pinhero for assaulting Ayinla Adeola and Adeshina Akinwunmi, officials of LASTMA at Bolade area of the state on Wednesday.

 Ighalo who was driving a commercial Vanagon bus with registration number XV 793 SMK allegedly obstructed free flow of traffic by picking and dropping passengers at will on the road along the Abeokuta Expressway and was intercepted by two LASTMA officers at Bolade area of Oshodi.
As at the time of committing the offence, the suspect was allegedly wearing an army camouflage shirt.
The driver was asked to drive his bus to the LASTMA Headquarters, Oshodi with officials escorting him. In order to evade arrest, the offender was alleged to have driven recklessly and dangerously towards the direction of the Nigerian Army Arena Shopping Complex gate and introduced himself as an officer of the Nigerian Army and requested for help.
The Edo-born driver acted in concert with military officers attached to the gate of the shopping complex to assault and inflict serious head injuries on the officers who were later released through the intervention of the senior military officers who also detected and confirmed that the driver was an impostor when he could not answer some questions related to military code of conduct. He was immediately handed over to the LASTMA police for further investigation.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the presiding magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties and also directed that the sureties must show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State government. The sureties must also not be below 40 years of age, residents of the state and must be gainfully employed with proof of valid identity card.
The General Manager, LASTMA, Engr. Babatunde Edu, condemned the barbaric act demonstrated by the army officers and called for a harmonious working relationship between the agency and other security formations.
He urged the uniform personnel to at all times obey traffic laws and stop using face caps, belt, stickers and other military paraphernalia to harass or intimidate traffic managers who are all out to ensure free flow of traffic on the roads.