Lagos Suspends Operation Of The Committee On The Removal Of Abandoned Vehicles Due To Extortion

With immediate effect, the Lagos State Government has suspended the entire ad-hoc teams of the Committee on Removal of Abandoned Vehicles (RAVC) operating in the state’s 20 Local Governments (LGs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

Several complaints of extortion and harassment of members of the public by RAVC, which is causing embarrassment to the State Government despite several reviews conducted on the team’s operational guidelines, led to the suspension, which was contained in a directive issued to the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, by the Governor of Lagos State on Friday.

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Any ad-hoc team discovered operating after this notification will be handed over to law enforcement agencies for trial and prosecution in accordance with state law, as outlined in the Traffic Sector Reform Law (TSRL) of 2018.

While requesting that the general public take note of the order, the directive also advises abandoned vehicle owners to remove vehicles that are currently causing environmental nuisances, security risks, or traffic congestion from the roads, as this directive is not an excuse for violating the State’s Traffic Laws.

The previous suspension of the Removal of Abandoned Vehicles Committee (RAVC) was revoked on December 30, 2021, following many assessments and reviews of the team’s operational rules by the State Government.

In a recent letter to the Lagos State Governor, the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) accused the committee of harassment and illegal towing of vehicles, which are always recovered after payment of unpaid costs ranging from N100,000 to N200,000.

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