The death toll from vehicle accidents in Lagos State reached 69 in Q1 2026, reviving old fears about the safety of the state’s congested roadways.
The persistent human toll of traffic violations and crashes was highlighted by the disclosure by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, that 246 additional individuals had injuries of varied degrees during the same period.
In a Sunday interview, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, the agency’s general manager, disclosed the numbers, saying that between January and March, officials responded to more than 600 accident scenes.
Bakare-Oki went on to say that the authority dealt with a large number of offences involving heavies, including over 900 cases involving trucks and articulated vehicles.
Meanwhile, 17,942 traffic offences were recorded by technology-based monitoring systems, and 4,900 physical patrol and intervention exercises were held across the state during that time, he said, adding that enforcement actions were greatly ramped up.
He claims the organization takes a hard line against traffic offences.
He stated, “LASTMA has zero tolerance for traffic infractions,” and went on to add that the Lagos State Mobile Court is swiftly consulted when cars seized for violations are arraigned.
Regardless of the numbers, Bakare-Oki pointed out that operational efficiency and traffic management had also seen gains.
Reducing commute time for Lagos residents is one area where we have been able to improve service delivery for the first quarter.
We repositioned our recovery vehicles and traffic equipment strategically to improve response time to incidents, and we overhauled them thoroughly.
He announced that training and re-orientation programs had been started with the goal of bettering service delivery in terms of staff.
The head of LASTMA also announced intentions to increase personnel capability via a comprehensive training program.
We have started training over a thousand people through internal and external programs, and we intend to keep going.
“We will intensify high-level capacity-building initiatives for all staff in the coming months, and we have engaged consultants for specialised training,” he added.