Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, has dismissed twenty-four of its personnel in the past two years over misconduct.

According to the agency, it lost about ten personnel, while some others suffered injuries with some resulting in amputation in the course of carrying out their duties.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Chris Olakpe who made this known, said the agency also punished erring officers and men in some other ways including suspension, rank reduction and isolation, saying there were various avenues used to checkmate the misconducts of officials on duty.

Olakpe, a former Assistant Inspector General of Police said the agency had received numerous complaints against its officers, saying the agency initiated the Response Unit to carry out investigations on such complaints.

According to him, the Provost Unit was also created to mete out punishment on any of them found guilty, saying they had dismissed the personnel in the last two years as a result of corruption, abuse of office, extortion, impropriety and other misconduct.

Olakpe regretted that about ten of the agency personnel had been killed in the past two years and others suffered injuries while carrying out their duties.

According to him, the agency had come up with ten-point agenda to check the excesses of both drivers and personnel on duty to achieve efficiency and discipline, saying the agency was also collaborating with other agencies to achieve the goals.

Olakpe appealed for cooperation of Lagos residents with the agency workers, urging motorists to drive carefully and obey traffic rules and regulations.

He said the agency had decided to restore Drivers’ Institute to improve driving on roads in the state, saying first of all, the agency would look at the versatile restoration of Drivers’ Institute; that’s all the driving schools now in operation.

Olakpe said he had built a more dynamic, more etiquette and purposeful-driven LASTMA, saying that the authority had also instituted employment of 1,200 graduate officers.

According to him, we train them (graduates) in traffic control mechanism and intelligence gathering psychology.

Olakpe said he had nurtured LASTMA to become an agency collaborating deeply with other sister agencies and intelligence-driven.

He said he looked forward to a LASTMA that is civil, not conflictual, LASTMA officials that will we see a car breaks down and assist in pushing and show empathy to road users.

Olakpe, however, lamented the atrocity perpetrated by miscreants who formed the habit of destroying signage erected to guide motorists.

The Chief Executive Officer said the agency had referred ten traffic offenders to a psychiatric hospital for mental assessment in the last two years, saying the agency still carried out full mental assessment on erring motorists in the metropolis.

He said since assuming office as chief executive officer, ten drivers had been taken for mental evaluation.