By Christopher Oji
The Management of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has concluded arrangements to prosecute filmmakers using the Agency’s uniform or its affiliated colour, kits and accoutrements without any authorisation from the government.
The General Manager of the Agency, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, who frowned at the demeaning manner in which movie and skit makers portray LASTMA in their movies and skits, warned against using its uniform without recourse to the Section 79 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 which criminalises such unauthorised use.
Mr Bakare-Oki made this known yesterday, after seeing two actors with fake LASTMA uniform in a viral video on the social media, where one of them was being revived through a diabolical means after impounding a white Sienna bus on the road.
According to Bakare-Oki, “film or skit makers who portray themselves as LASTMA Officers without applying for, and being duly issued a permit letter for such portrayals, to desist with immediate effect or face the full wrath of the Law.
He believes that the agency would want to bring sanity in the movie production by stopping the illegal possession and usage of LASTMA uniform to curb proliferation of LASTMA kits, uniforms and accoutrements within our society.
In a statement by Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Mr Adebayo Taofiq,he admonished that the National Association of Nigeria Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTA), and other affiliate bodies should warn their members to adhere strictly to the advice as anyone caught using LASTMA Uniform without an approved permit would be prosecuted in accordance with ‘Section 79 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.