Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) sprayed pepper in the eyes of Bolatito Onanubi, a commercial bus passenger, for filming them harass another passenger on Monday.

The incident occurred en route Ikeja from Yaba in the evening. Onanubi told FIJ the bus she boarded was impounded by LASTMA officials for wrongful parking and then some of them took over the vehicle and started driving to an unknown destination, failing to either dismiss the passengers or inform them of where the vehicle was headed.

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While on this new journey with LASTMA, passengers became disgruntled and began to air their reservations. One of them flared up in anger, prompting the LASTMA official to stop and alight from the vehicle.

“He came down, dragged the man (passenger) and started beating him. Other LASTMA guys coming in a shuttle saw the situation and decided to park to ask what was going on. Then they held the man, allowing the LASTMA official to beat him more,” Onanubi said.

When she decided to film the event from the vehicle, two of the officials told her to go ahead and post it on social media. One of them had a name tag that reads ‘Sanni E.’

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However, one of the officials held her after filming and prevented her from leaving. “That’s how you go about implicating officers,” he said.

She was then arrested and put in their vehicle, and even after suggesting to delete the video, they refused and insisted she be taken to their office. According to them, only the press is allowed to film social injustice happening in public.

“I then put a call to the person I was to meet in Ikeja,” Onanubi told FIJ. “The person said I should share him my live location on WhatsApp. That was the last thing I heard before I saw pepper spray all over my body. I started shouting, ‘My eye!’ They told me, ‘You know how to make videos? We will show you.'”

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When she was able to spot another LASTMA patrol team stationed at Anthony bus stop, she cried for help. The team then stopped the vehicle she was in, scolded the officials who arrested her and asked her to leave.

FIJ put several calls to Olumide Filade, LASTMA’s public relations officer, but they were unanswered. The video and audio were also sent to him, but he was yet to respond at press time.

FIJ earlier exposed LASTMA officials operating like a criminal gang and extorting motorists from Ikeja to Lekki, but Filade’s defence was that members of the public aided their activities.