Olumide Filade, Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), has defended officers of the agency caught on camera extorting motorists in Lagos.

Reacting to an FIJ undercover investigation exposing four police officers and eight LASTMA officials operating like an organised criminal gang from Ikeja to Lekki, Filade said, “Both the one who offers bribe and the recipient are guilty of bribery.”

This came in an opinion piece titled “Allegations Against LASTMA: Setting The Record Straight”, published in TheGuardian on Friday.

“This is never extortion, it is a case of mutual agreement between the law enforcer and the law breaker to allow the latter to part away with money in order to prevent the law from taking its course. Truth is, bribe negotiation cannot be carried out between a law enforcer and a law-abiding citizen,” he wrote.

However, Filade failed to address LASTMA agents’ swindle of the Lagos state government by raising a fine beyond the reach of an offender to make them pay bribes.

For instance, one of the officers exposed in the investigation had told a motorist that the fine for illegal u-turn was N250,000. However, the extant Lagos Road Traffic Law prescribes the fine of N20,000 for a first-time offender and N30,000 for a second-time offender.

READ ALSO: UNDERCOVER: From Ikeja to Lekki, LASTMA Officials Operate Like a Criminal Gang.

Meanwhile, Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, earlier condemned the actions of police officers exposed in the investigation and ordered their arrest.

In a statement issued by Adekunle Ajisebutu, the Lagos Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, and titled “Viral video: Lagos CP Condemns Extortion, Orders Arrest of Officers”, the police vowed to punish the officers for their ‘unprofessional conduct’.

READ ALSO: Police ‘Arrest’ 4 Corrupt Officers Exposed in FIJ’s LASTMA Investigation

“Attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to a video going viral on social media exposing some police officers in Maroko Police Division extorting money from a citizen,” the statement reads in part.

“Peeved by the unprofessional conduct of the officers as captured/revealed in the video, the Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, directed that the erring police officers be identified and arrested immediately.

“In compliance with the directive, therefore, all the four police officers have been arrested and detained. They are currently facing disciplinary action. 

READ ALSO: LASTMA Officers Exposed in FIJ’s Investigation Extort More Motorists

“While condemning this inglorious act, the Commissioner of Police vows to deal decisively with any police officer found acting in such or another unprofessional manner in the command.”