The case of the killing of Hameed Balogun is slipping out of public consciousness gradually. But one person who must still be nursing his bruised ego is the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Babatunde Edu, whose accounts of events were found to be not exactly reliable.



After valiantly defending what he believed to be the correct version of events, Mr Edu was ultimately forced to eat the humble pie with a sachet of chilled pure water following the exoneration of Mrs. Yinka Johnson, the hapless banker that he vociferously accused of killing the LASTMA official, Hammeed Balogun.



For some time to come, it would be embarrassing for Mr. Edu to stand in front of his boss, Governor Babatunde Fashola, who henceforth will be wise to take his claims with a pinch of salt and an assortment of other soup condiments.



But the fault was not entirely his. He probably did no wrong to believe what his men on the field told him.



When the first wave of doubt was cast on the LASTMA version of what transpired on that sad day that Mr. Balogun lost his life, he probably had called his men to ask them about the veracity of their claims again, and those ones swore on their great-grandfathers’ graves that they were telling the truth.



But then, the odds were steeply stacked against their version of what transpired. How possible was it for a car to hit someone and not have any dent? That was most unlikely. Even if the vehicle was armoured, there ought to have been some tell-tale signs of impact.



Then, again, there was a picture of the vehicle in question being prepared for towing by LASTMA officials. The towing vehicle was visible in the picture, parked right in front of the banker’s car, with a LASTMA official standing beside it.



This picture put a lie to the claim by Mr. Edu in an official statement that the banker drove away from the scene, and aligned more with the version of the banker that she did not leave the scene with her car.



According to reports, detectives who visited the crime scene for a reconstruction of the incident were hard pressed to correlate LASTMA’s account with what could have possibly transpired on the fateful day. As hard as they tried, they couldn’t see the possibility of LASTMA’s claims.



And lastly, eye-witnesses stepped forward to give account of what they saw, which simply was that a commercial bus popularly called ‘danfo’ hit the gentleman while trying to cross the road after apprehending the banker for one-way traffic violation.



And so it was that Mrs. Johnson escaped the rap of manslaughter that LASTMA desperately tried to pin on her.



This incident highlights what members of the public have always said about the lack of professionalism of many of the LASTMA men on the roads.



Therein lies one of the tragedies of the draconian traffic law in Lagos. You can only make a law this draconian with the assumption that it will be implemented by angels. However, LASTMA men, as we all know, are no angels.



They are members of our self-acknowledged corrupt society who are just trying to earn a living. Like the rest of us, they have children in school who need wear, books and provisions, and who may sometimes fall sick towards the end of the month when the pocket is virtually dry.



They have mothers-in-law with arthritis, aged mothers with diabetes, hypertension or some other ailments requiring consistent funds for maintenance. They have younger ones who want to set up own businesses and need financial support. Above all, they want to one day walk away from chasing after ‘danfos’ and ‘okadas’, and retire into a quiet neighbourhood, tending chickens or pigs.



There is not a very bright prospect of a LASTMA official on a consolidated salary of less than N20,000 rising to all these responsibilities without once or twice wandering off the straight and narrow path of righteousness.



How wise is the move making the minimum fine in a traffic law N20,000 when the majority of those who will implement it do not earn that much legitimately in 30 days of toiling day and night?



And when LASTMA officials publicly derail as they did in the Hameed Balogun/Yinka Johnson case, what does the government do to warn state officials that it would not tolerate flippancy, and less than honourable conduct? The answers blow in the air.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=13995118#editor/target=post;postID=261942534128634943

***wispering***
Madam,Abeg mix peper soup and beans
:add two kpomo
:one goat intestine
:and enough okporoko
spray some ofe akwu on top if possible.no time

Tokotaya:
The case of the killing of Hameed Balogun is slipping out of public consciousness gradually. But one person who must still be nursing his bruised ego is the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Babatunde Edu, whose accounts of events were found to be not exactly reliable.



After valiantly defending what he believed to be the correct version of events, Mr Edu was ultimately forced to eat the humble pie with a sachet of chilled pure water following the exoneration of Mrs. Yinka Johnson, the hapless banker that he vociferously accused of killing the LASTMA official, Hammeed Balogun.



For some time to come, it would be embarrassing for Mr. Edu to stand in front of his boss, Governor Babatunde Fashola, who henceforth will be wise to take his claims with a pinch of salt and an assortment of other soup condiments.



But the fault was not entirely his. He probably did no wrong to believe what his men on the field told him.



When the first wave of doubt was cast on the LASTMA version of what transpired on that sad day that Mr. Balogun lost his life, he probably had called his men to ask them about the veracity of their claims again, and those ones swore on their great-grandfathers’ graves that they were telling the truth.



But then, the odds were steeply stacked against their version of what transpired. How possible was it for a car to hit someone and not have any dent? That was most unlikely. Even if the vehicle was armoured, there ought to have been some tell-tale signs of impact.



Then, again, there was a picture of the vehicle in question being prepared for towing by LASTMA officials. The towing vehicle was visible in the picture, parked right in front of the banker’s car, with a LASTMA official standing beside it.



This picture put a lie to the claim by Mr. Edu in an official statement that the banker drove away from the scene, and aligned more with the version of the banker that she did not leave the scene with her car.



According to reports, detectives who visited the crime scene for a reconstruction of the incident were hard pressed to correlate LASTMA’s account with what could have possibly transpired on the fateful day. As hard as they tried, they couldn’t see the possibility of LASTMA’s claims.



And lastly, eye-witnesses stepped forward to give account of what they saw, which simply was that a commercial bus popularly called ‘danfo’ hit the gentleman while trying to cross the road after apprehending the banker for one-way traffic violation.



And so it was that Mrs. Johnson escaped the rap of manslaughter that LASTMA desperately tried to pin on her.



This incident highlights what members of the public have always said about the lack of professionalism of many of the LASTMA men on the roads.



Therein lies one of the tragedies of the draconian traffic law in Lagos. You can only make a law this draconian with the assumption that it will be implemented by angels. However, LASTMA men, as we all know, are no angels.



They are members of our self-acknowledged corrupt society who are just trying to earn a living. Like the rest of us, they have children in school who need wear, books and provisions, and who may sometimes fall sick towards the end of the month when the pocket is virtually dry.



They have mothers-in-law with arthritis, aged mothers with diabetes, hypertension or some other ailments requiring consistent funds for maintenance. They have younger ones who want to set up own businesses and need financial support. Above all, they want to one day walk away from chasing after ‘danfos’ and ‘okadas’, and retire into a quiet neighbourhood, tending chickens or pigs.



There is not a very bright prospect of a LASTMA official on a consolidated salary of less than N20,000 rising to all these responsibilities without once or twice wandering off the straight and narrow path of righteousness.



How wise is the move making the minimum fine in a traffic law N20,000 when the majority of those who will implement it do not earn that much legitimately in 30 days of toiling day and night?



And when LASTMA officials publicly derail as they did in the Hameed Balogun/Yinka Johnson case, what does the government do to warn state officials that it would not tolerate flippancy, and less than honourable conduct? The answers blow in the air.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=13995118#editor/target=post;postID=261942534128634943

1) Babatunde Edu should resign immediately or be sacked by the government.

2) No matter what he must have been told, there's no law enforcement official that has the power to pronounce anyone guilty of any offense except the law court. Yes, suspects are arrested for crimes, but they are innocent until proven guilty.

3) The way he went about his claim that Yinka killed Hameed in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary leaves much to be desired of a law enforcement agent. It also shows an appalling lack of crisis management, which communication skill is an essential part of.

3) Governor Babatunde Fashola must show leadership by asking Edu to throw in the towel, he should take a cue from President Jonathan on the Barth Nnaji's case.

4) He, the governor, should sack Edu in order to re-assure we the doubters that the clamor for state police, which he is championing, is worth the while, and that the system is capable of self correction. Otherwise, we'll assume that worse things will happen under state police.

5) There should be a total overhaul of LASTMA in view of the new realities. University graduates should be considered for recruitment as it is with the Federal Road Safety Commission which is civil but firm in decisions and much more respected by many.

^^ I'll be waiting for responses to all that. . .

Meanwhile

eduson33: ***wispering***
Madam,Abeg mix peper soup and beans
:add two kpomo
:one goat intestine
:and enough okporoko
spray some ofe akwu on top if possible.no time

This man deserve a ban

**clears throat**
madam,come collect your money jare.bring xtra kpomo and tooth pick.no time to waist...

Acidosis: ^^ I'll be waiting for responses to all that. . .

Meanwhile





This man deserve a ban

eduson33: **clears throat**
madam,come collect your money jare.bring xtra kpomo and tooth pick.no time to waist...

Pls ban this clown...what rubbish

Madam!,abeg,arranshe two cups off garri and well prepared egwusi soup.add pork meat,two cow leg,goat head,3 lizard laps and 4 pigeon wings.add salt well well.make i dey jolly.no time for useless thread...

deelicious:

Pls ban this clown...what rubbish

eduson33: Madam!,abeg,arranshe two cups off garri and well prepared egwusi soup.add pork meat,two cow leg,goat head,3 lizard laps and 4 pigeon wings.add salt well well.make i dey jolly.no time for useless thread...

I took it for granted that this was rather very simple for everyone to grasp. I forget we have a few slow pokes in the house. My bad. It's quite unfair to expect everyone on Nairaland to have the same level of IQ. So here's the breakdown: A motorist was unjustly accused of murder/manslaughter. The people rose in her defence and she was vindicated. The state has since pretended as if nothing happened. This thread is to interogate that incident again, with a view to drawing attention to the dangers faced by everyone who drives on Lagos road. If you don't yet drive, there must be members of your family who do. If a charge of murder/manslaughter can be frivorously slammed against a woman, nobody who drives on Lagos roads is safe in the hands of LASTMA. It is our job to ask that something be done to those who cooked that charge. If it is you or your relatives that is slammed with manslaughter tomorrow, will this thread be useful then, Mr Eduson?

Tokotaya:

I took it for granted that this was rather very simple for everyone to grasp. I forget we have a few slow pokes in the house. My bad. It's quite unfair to expect everyone on Nairaland to have the same level of IQ. So here's the breakdown: A motorist was unjustly accused of murder/manslaughter. The people rose in her defence and she was vindicated. The state has since pretended as if nothing happened. This thread is to interogate that incident again, with a view to drawing attention to the dangers faced by everyone who drives on Lagos road. If you don't yet drive, there must be members of your family who do. If a charge of murder/manslaughter can be frivorously slammed against a woman, nobody who drives on Lagos roads is safe in the hands of LASTMA. It is our job to ask that something be done to those who cooked that charge. If it is you or your relatives that is slammed with manslaughter tomorrow, will this thread be useful then, Mr Eduson?

Ignore him!

Guy Take It Easy......The Dude's Funny

Now you made point.sorry for my whatever but this is not what that country needs now.letz discuss more of how to stop the mess going on.if we can get ride of falty religous mind,ethnicism,and ill politics,then we can have time for this thread.charity begins at home NL.

Tokotaya:

I took it for granted that this was rather very simple for everyone to grasp. I forget we have a few slow pokes in the house. My bad. It's quite unfair to expect everyone on Nairaland to have the same level of IQ. So here's the breakdown: A motorist was unjustly accused of murder/manslaughter. The people rose in her defence and she was vindicated. The state has since pretended as if nothing happened. This thread is to interogate that incident again, with a view to drawing attention to the dangers faced by everyone who drives on Lagos road. If you don't yet drive, there must be members of your family who do. If a charge of murder/manslaughter can be frivorously slammed against a woman, nobody who drives on Lagos roads is safe in the hands of LASTMA. It is our job to ask that something be done to those who cooked that charge. If it is you or your relatives that is slammed with manslaughter tomorrow, will this thread be useful then, Mr Eduson?