The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) accompanied by a team of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA) on Friday visited the widow of the LASTMA commander, Olatunji Bakare who was killed on December 15, 2016 by a mob action at the Tin Can Port area of Apapa.
During the visit, NPA Managing Director, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman urged the Police to get to the root of the brutal killing and bring the murderers to book.
Speaking at the Ogba residence of the late Bakare, Usman said as the landlord of the ports, she had led the NPA management team to visit and extend the authority’s condolences to the family of the late LASTMA official who was on duty when he was killed.
“We enjoin the police to ensure that justice is done because nobody should be killed in the manner this young man was killed, it is unacceptable in our society and so, I am encouraging the Lagos State Government and the police to ensure that these miscreants are brought to book. We cannot accept these behaviours in our society, as it would discourage other officers from actively performing their duties,” she said.
She also promised to beef up security at the ports in Lagos.
“Security around the port needed to be beefed up and it would be beefed up; we would send a strong message to any hoodlum operating around the area that the Federal Government and the State Government will not accept such behaviours,” she added.
For the brief moment that the visit lasted at the Bakare’s home, tears rolled freely from the eyes of the late LASTMA commander’s widow, Fatimah.
She hinted that her husband was a peace-loving man who was dedicated to his job while he was alive, saying that she wished the visit of the top officials of NPA was done to her home with the husband alive to see that he was really valued.
“I want to appreciate NPA; it’s painful that I am receiving this delegation after my husband’s death. I am now only knowing the worth of my husband after his death,” she cried.
Chief Executive Officer of LASTMA, Chris Olakpe, who accompanied Usman on the visit, said the circumstances leading to the death of late Bakare was most unfortunate because the LASTMA officers were rendering their usual service to the State and the nation, when “some unfortunate elements gruesomely murdered him”.
He assured the family of the late LASTMA official that the Lagos State Government would leave no stones unturned to get justice.
“We have sworn that we must get to the bottom of it. The government of Lagos has empowered the Police to get to the root of it and we are glad that today, two arrests have been made of the miscreants, the manhunt is being extended for other accomplices in that gruesome murder,” he said.
It would be recalled that the late Bakare who was the zonal head of the LASTMA in the Apapa area, had led a team of officials to the area in a patrol van to arrest erring truck drivers when the agency’s van ran into a motor boy and killed him.
A mob at the spot, who were largely made of commercial motorcycle operators had attacked Bakare and killed him before he could get any help, 10 days before Christmas.
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