By AISHA COLE

The Lagos State Government has suspended the operations of ad-hoc teams of the Committee on Removal of Abandoned Vehicles (RAVC) operating in all council areas with immediate effect.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, announced this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

He said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-olu gave the directive suspending the operations of the ad-hoc teams in all the 20 Local Governments (LGs) and 37 Local Council Development Area (LCDAs) of the state.

According to him, the suspension is as a result of several complaints of extortion and harassment of members of the public by RAVC.

“The development has caused embarrassment to the State Government despite several reviews conducted on the operational guidelines of the team,” he said.

Oladeinde warned that any ad-hoc team found operating after the notice would be handed over to the law enforcement agencies for trial and prosecution.

This, he said, was in accordance with the Law of the State as captured in the Traffic Sector Reform Law (TSRL) 2018.

The commissioner said that the order should be noted by the general public.

He said that owners of abandoned vehicles posing environmental nuisance as well as security and traffic impediments must remove them from the roads.

“Negligence will not be condoned as an excuse for violation of the Traffic Laws of the State,” he said.

Oladeinde recalled that an earlier suspension of the RAVC’s was lifted on Dec. 30, 2021 in view of several appraisals and reviews of the operational guidelines of the team by the State Government. (NAN)

Update news