The Lagos State Government has again placed an indefinite suspension on the entire ad-hoc teams of the committee on Removal of Abandoned Vehicles operating in the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state with immediate effect.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, adding that any ad-hoc team which operated after this notice would be prosecuted.

He said, “The suspension was contained in a directive issued by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, as a result of several complaints of extortion and harassment of members of the public by the RAVC. The development has caused embarrassment to the state government despite several reviews conducted on the operational guidelines of the team.

“The directive warned that any ad-hoc team found operating after this notice will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies for trial and prosecution in accordance with the law of the state as captured in the Traffic Sector Reform Law 2018.

“The order should be noted by the general public, while owners of abandoned vehicles posing environmental nuisance as well as security and traffic impediments must remove them from the roads. Negligence will not be condoned as an excuse for violation of the Traffic Laws of the state.”

That the government had earlier suspended the RAVC in September 2021 but this was lifted in December 2021 in view of several appraisals and reviews of the operational guidelines of the team by the government.