LASTMA Officer Hangs Self on Billboard in Lagos

Matilda Omonaiye/

An official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) identified as Tope Akinde, was found hanging today in what was suspected to be suicide. 

Akinde’s lifeless body was discovered dangling on the pole of a billboard around Salvation Bus Stop on Opebi Road, Ikeja, this morning.

A large crowd had reportedly gathered at the scene of the incident causing a traffic gridlock which lasted for hours.

Spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, SP Bala Elkana, disclosed that a female LASTMA official informed the command of the incident.

He said that the deceased’s elder brother also claimed that he had been suffering from mental instability for a while.

Elkana said, “On Saturday, February 1, 2020, around 10:57 am, a female LASTMA official, Yetunde Olajabu, came to the police station and reported that she received a phone call from an unknown person that one man hanged himself on a mango tree at Opebi and was later identified to be Tope Akinde, a staff of LASTMA.

“His corpse has been deposited at IDH Hospital, Yaba mortuary by the Lagos State Ambulance Service. Information at our disposal from the deceased’s elder brother reveals that the late Tope Akinde had a mental problem which the family had been managing before his death.”