Lagos commuters stranded as bus drivers protest alleged extortion by police, LASTMA, others

Bus drivers in Lagos have halted operations along the Iyana-Ipaja/Iyana-Iba corridor, protesting what they claim are extortion tactics by police, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and other transport regulatory agencies. These commercial operators assert that officials from the LASTMA, Police, Federal Road Safety Corps, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers, or NURTW, regularly demand exorbitant amounts of money from them.

Affected drivers told reporters of their frustration with daily extortion, describing the situation as increasingly intolerable for commercial transport. They allege that LASTMA officials frequently impound their vehicles for various infractions, sometimes holding them for an entire day, which leads to significant financial losses for both drivers and vehicle owners.

These actions, the drivers claim, have severely impacted their ability to generate profits, as lost operating hours directly reduce their daily earnings. Consequently, they have decided to withdraw their services as a means of highlighting their grievances and pressuring the authorities to address what they describe as the ongoing extortion threatening their livelihoods.