The Labour Party governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, on Sunday decried the influence of thugs in the state’s transport sector.
Rhodes-Vivour, who defended his manifesto at The Platform debate organised for governorship candidates in Lagos, said the “Agbero” system in the state has produced several bottlenecks and safety hazards over time.
The LP candidate said: “On road safety in Lagos state, we will not accept the ‘Agbero’ system, which has created a lot of safety hazards in the state.
“We need to train our road enforcement agents and we will also need to ensure that the state set its clear policy on not accepting the Agbero system. All of these, you can only enforce where a system is moving smoothly.
“Our own focus is making sure that we are back on a system that is working smoothly. We are also going to have digital surveillance all across the state so that we can enforce it with evidence, not just hearsay anymore.
“So, the enforcement officers that do not step up to their responsibilities can actually be held accountable and we can hold them to account with evidence.”
“Agbero” is an informal word used for a person, usually a thug, collecting rates, fees, tolls, and others forms of tax around motor parks.
They are non-state actors under the control of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) which are recognized by state governments
