The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) is not permitted to punish or tow the automobiles of accused traffic violators without a court warrant, according to an Ikeja High Court in Lagos.
In a landmark decision on the agency’s authority over drivers accused of committing traffic offenses, Justice Olalekan Oresanya also awarded damages of N750,000 against LASTMA and in favor of a driver.
In a case brought by a motorist named Mr. Lawal Aliyu against LASTMA, the Lagos State Government, and the state’s attorney general, Justice Oresanya rendered the decision on Thursday.
Lawyer Aliyu filed the lawsuit to challenge the N20,000 fine that LASTMA levied against him for allegedly violating traffic laws as well as the N10,000 towage fee that the traffic enforcement agency made him pay.
With the help of, among other things, Sections 34, 36, and 41 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Justice Oresanya reduced the problems in the case to three and resolved them all in favor of the applicant (Aliyu) in her ruling on Friday.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Law (2018) does not contain any provisions that permit the derogation of the applicant’s right to freedom of movement, the court ruled on the first issue, which concerned the question of whether the obstruction, towing, seizure, and impoundment of the applicant’s car with Registration No. AGL 93 DW by LASTMA on the 23rd November 2021 was lawful.
Justice Oresanya held: “Public Authorities and Bodies cannot act in a manner that is inconsistent and incompatible with the fundamental rights of citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the grundnorm;
“Even in the jurisdiction where parliamentary laws/statutes are supreme, such as the United Kingdom, public bodies must not act in a manner that is incompatible with the convention rights of citizens as embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which has now been incorporated into the Human Rights Act 1998, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right being an equivalent of the ECHR and which has now being codified into the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 2004 being the equivalence law.”
Regarding the second issue, which involved the fine and towing fee imposed on the applicant, the court stated that a careful reading of Sections 27 (1) b, c, d, and e of the Traffic Management Law—on which the respondents had relied—showed that LASTMA was not permitted to impose a fine without first charging an alleged traffic violator with a crime and that doing so amounted to disregarding the right to a fair trial and acting as a judge in
The court called LASTMA’s practice of forcibly towing the automobiles of alleged traffic violators the height of oppression and mocked it.
He held: “I must add that it is strange and bizarre that the 1st Respondent (LASTMA) towed a serviceable vehicle in good working condition and thereby caused damage to the vehicle in the process when it has not been established that the Applicant resisted the arrest of his vehicle, only for the 1st Respondent to subsequently impose a fine on the Applicant for a service not solicited by the Applicant. To my mind, this is the height of oppression and impunity and it is condemnable.”
On issue three as to whether the applicant was entitled to compensation and damages for breach of his fundamental rights, the court said having resolved issues one and two in favour of the applicant, it follows that the applicant is naturally entitled to damages in compensation.
“On the whole, I give judgment for the Applicant in the following terms; I make a declaration that the obstruction, towage, seizure, and impoundment of the Applicant’s car with Registration NO. AGL 93 DW on the 23rd November 2021 by the Respondents is unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional as same amounted to gross violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to freedom of movement enshrined in Section 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (band amended).
“I make a declaration that the imposition and enforcement of LASTMA fine in the sum of N20,000 and LASTMA Towing fine in the sum of N10,000 on the Applicant without an order of a court of competent jurisdiction is unlawful, Illegal and is null and void and the said fines should be paid back by the Respondents to the Applicant.
“The sum of N750,000 compensatory damages is awarded against the Respondents for the violation of the Applicant’s fundamental rights. This is the Judgment of the Court,” Justice Oresanya held.
While T.M. Fayehun was the Respondents’ attorney, Aliyu represented himself.
