Lagos to Deploy 2,000 LASTMA Officers for Detty December as Traffic Deaths Mount

The Lagos State Ministry of Transportation has announced plans to deploy over 2,000 officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) ahead of the annual “Detty December” festivities. The deployment comes as the state grapples with rising road fatalities and the grim reality of losing its own personnel in the line of duty.

During the 2026 Media Parley held in Lagos, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Olawale Musa, disclosed that at least 22 LASTMA officers died in 2025 while executing their official duties. Musa acknowledged the perilous nature of traffic management in the state, noting that officers frequently operate in highly challenging and volatile circumstances.

“LASTMA lost at least 22 staff last year. With the kind of society and people we are, there is no way one won’t have a crisis to manage. To manage a crisis is not an easy task, and that is why I must thank our information officers and press corps here. They have been very supportive,” Musa said.

Providing a stark update on road incidents, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, revealed that at least 17 people lost their lives on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road between January and October 2026. During the same period, about 15 others died along the Otedola Bridge-Kara axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Bakare-Oki noted that the agency recorded over 860 traffic-related incidents on the Coastal Road and more than 365 along the Otedola Bridge-Kara corridor.

“You cannot quantify human life,” the LASTMA boss said, emphasizing the devastating human cost of these crashes.

He attributed the high rate of incidents to the sheer volume of vehicles, noting that Lagos has the highest vehicular intensity in West Africa, which places immense strain on the state’s limited landmass.

“If you look at Lagos, the geographical location of the state has placed it at a disadvantage in terms of landmass. Out of the total land space in the country, Lagos has less than one per cent, about 0.4 per cent, compared to vehicular intensity in the state,” he explained. “Our core responsibility is to ensure seamless mobility despite this limitation. Our concentration has been on the major crossing points, especially to reduce the damage on these roads.”

To address infrastructure decay, Bakare-Oki disclosed that federal and state authorities have begun assessing the causes of road damage along the Otedola Bridge corridor. He noted that the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr. Gary, recently led a federal team, while the State Commissioner for Transportation led the state delegation, to inspect the situation.

“This week, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos led a team from the federal side, while the Honourable Commissioner for Transport led the Lagos team to re-examine and evaluate the causes of this damage on our roads, and it’s not going to be limited to the Otedola Bridge. With time, there will be an arrangement,” he said.

Highlighting LASTMA’s evolution from a basic traffic control unit into a sophisticated institution focused on road safety advocacy, public engagement, and rapid response, Bakare-Oki outlined the agency’s proactive plan for the holiday season.

To ease congestion and improve safety during the Detty December celebrations, over 2,000 personnel will be deployed to high-traffic areas, including Victoria Island, Lekki-Ajah, Surulere, and Ikeja.

“We are deploying over 2,000 personnel to beef up these areas so that people can commute or move freely during the Detty December period,” he said.

Additionally, the agency has mobilized recovery vehicles to strategic locations across the state to ensure that broken-down vehicles and accident scenes are cleared promptly, minimizing disruptions.