How Police Corruption Is Causing Heavy Traffic At Obalende Underbridge

BY ANSELEM MARTINS

It has emerged that the perennial traffic bottleneck at the Underbridge bus stop at Obalende Lagos, is caused by corrupt policemen.

The Eagle correspondent who had been monitoring activities in the area, reports that many of the policemen stationed to ensure order are the ones who cause traffic holdups.

 The policemen allow drivers to stay on the road once their palms have been greased.

have their once they are settled, thereby slowing traffic perennially all the time.

There is no better way to explain the exhibition of lawlessness in the name of illegal parking currently masterminded by law-enforcement angencies,  particularly the police around the Obalende area of Lagos.

 There is saying that when the citadel of justice is corrupt, what happens to the body politic?

 The illegal parks in Lagos can be traced to era of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration when it was a major factor during that regime.

The emergence of his successor, Mr Babatunde Fashola drew a line between law and lawlessness which everyone witnessed and can testify to.
it was obvious that the standard of a mega city had been set. Taskforces were set up vested with the sole responsibilty of arresting offenders.

Speaking to The Eagle correspondent, a commercial driver at Obalende, Mr Frederick Oyeyemi said the reason why such an illegality continued to thrive in Lagos was the acquiescence of some policemen.

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He said such policemen had just decided to make a living out of a terrible situation.

He said such policemen had just decided to make a living out of a terrible situation.

Another respondent who identified himself simply as Mr frederick reiterating the earlier point, said the police sent to control the Obalende underbridge traffic, had been most unprofessional, allowing drivers to create a park on the road thereby causing traffick at the roundabout.

He said it was obvious that the drivers were making returns to the policemen, that otherwise, they would have been stopped long ago.

Another respondent, Mr oyeyemi further said it is so sad that an officer of the law was now the one breaking the laws.

However, some of the drivers approached refused to confirm or deny that they were settling the policemen on duty.

One of them simply told our correspondent: “What we are asking the government to do for us is to help us repair the Obalende dilapidated park. It is because the park is in bad order that we are parking on the road”, he said.

Another driver, Mr Joseph Udoh expressed worry at the level in which police harass drivers in Obalende.

He complained bitterly about the police men extorting money from commercial drivers, thereby encouraging traffic congestion.

According to him, should the police do their work professionally, the drivers would have no option than to comply.