Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has appealed to the Inspector General
of Police, Suleiman Abba to tell Joseph Mbu to release toll operators
arrested by his aides on Thursday 29 January.
In a statement by
LCC, it pleaded with
Abba to prevail on Mbu to release its staff after
they were forcefully and unnecessarily seized from their duty post in
Lagos state.
According to the statement: “At about 6:09 p.m. on
Thursday 29 January 2015, the newly deployed AIG Zone 2, covering Lagos
and Ogun States, (AIG Joseph Mbu) passed through Lane 8 at Toll Plaza 1
on the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway, (a toll road under concession to a
private concern, Lekki Concession Company-LCC) with 6 police vehicles
and an armoured van in his convoy,” the statement said.
“Though it
is customary to exempt law enforcement agents and other agencies on
official duty from paying toll, each vehicle that passes through the
plaza still needs to be processed as exempt vehicle to ensure adequate
reconciliation of daily transactions. Consequently, while the toll
collector was trying to process the vehicles, the police officers in the
AIG’s convoy asked him to open the boom for all the vehicles to pass
through. Unfortunately, all explanations by the Toll Collector on the
need to follow LCC’s operational guidelines and to process the vehicles
individually fell on deaf ears.”
LCC noted that: “After he had processed the first vehicle, the police
men in AIG’s Mbu’s convoy jumped off their vehicle into the booth and
physically assaulted the Toll Operator. They then bundled him and 3
policemen attached to the plaza into their vehicle and whisked them
off.”
“The toll Collector and the 3 policemen are currently
detained at Maroko Police Station in Lagos. The CCTV footage clearly
shows that there was no delay or confrontation by the LCC staff at the
plaza which could have degenerated into such act of intimidation,
harassment and detention.
“In view of the foregoing, we wish to
passionately appeal to the Inspector General of Police Mr. Suleiman Abba
to kindly use his good office to intervene and ensure immediate release
of the detained LCC staff as they have committed no offence. At the
material time, they were only doing their legitimate duties.
“We
also wish to affirm that we do appreciate the important functions of Law
Enforcement Agencies. However, we expect them to also assist us in
preventing a breakdown of law and order by following universal rules and
procedures where applicable.”
Source:PM News
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