This week would remain a sorrowful one for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) as the Zonal Head of LASTMA, Mr. Bakare Olatunji was beaten to death by some mob, mostly motorcyclists in Apapa while enforcing the road traffic law which banned the motorcyclists from plying 475 major roads in Lagos.
At such a time when the nation hopes to have evolved in civilization, it is sad that some people still practice the principle of jungle justice and go scot-free. While other citizens prepare for the yuletide, the family of Mr. Bakare has been thrown into mourning.
The incidence was fueled by a report of the LASTMA van killng a motor-boy during a chase,, which led the aggrieved mob to resort to jungle justice. Although, another account of the story posits that the motor boy was knocked down by his own truck driver in a bid to escape from the LASTMA officials.
However, the jungle justice approach carried out by the mob is archaic and must be condemned and such practices must come to an end in Nigeria, if we must move into a more civilized polity. How can a man who volunteered to put his life on the line as a traffic officer be murdered in cold blood?
