‘Why Lagos suspended committee on removal of abandoned vehicles for second time’

The Lagos State government has again placed an indefinite suspension on the entire ad-hoc teams of the Removal of Abandoned Vehicles Committee (RAVC) operating in the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas in Lagos State with immediate effect.

The suspension which was contained in a directive issued to the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic

Oladeinde, by the governor of Lagos State was a result of several complaints of extortion and harassment of members of the public by the committee.

Daily Trust reports that this would be the second time the committee would be suspended following a plethora of complaints from members of the public.

It would be recalled that the Removal of Abandoned Vehicles Committee (RAVC) was suspended in 2021 while the suspension was lifted on December 30, 2021 after several appraisals and a review of the operational guidelines of the team by the state government.

But the controversy over the activities of the committee, it was learnt, started rearing its ugly head.

The commissioner said the complaint against the committee is causing embarrassment to the state government despite several reviews conducted on the operational guidelines of the team.

The directive warned that any adhoc team found operating after this notice will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies for trial and prosecution in accordance with the law of the state as captured in the Traffic Sector Reform Law (TSRL) 2018.

The directive while requesting the general public to take note of the order also advised abandoned vehicle owners who hitherto posed as environmental nuisance, security and traffic impediment, to remove them from the roads as this directive is not an excuse for the negligence of the traffic laws of the state.