Lagos bans 'Molue' buses on Lagos Island

The Lagos State Government on Thursday announced that the big commercial buses, popularly known as Molue, would no longer be allowed to operate on Lagos Island.

A statement from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority said the buses would not ply the Third Mainland, Eko, Carter bridges and the Lagos Central Business District.

The prohibited routes included Iddo, Ebute Ero, Apongbon, Obalende, Idumota and CMS.

The statement said that the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Babatunde Edu, stated this during a stakeholders' meeting with branch chairmen of the Lagos Urban Bus Owners Association of Nigeria, the operators of Molue buses in the state .

The General Manager told the operators that the government had not banned them, therefore they could perform their operations in any other parts of the state apart from the restricted areas.

Edu said, 'The government has not banned the operations of Molue in the state. Rather, it has restricted their operations to areas like Orile, Iyana Ipaja, Mile 2 and Mile 12.'

Edu said, 'This directive had become effective since August, 2012, but Lagos State Government, being a responsive and responsible government which believes in enlightenment before enforcement, decided to shift the enforcement to September 2013.

'LASTMA officials have been mandated to ensure strict compliance and impound any Molue that is found to have flouted the directive after September 4, 2013.

The statement added that the move was to ensure adequate monitoring of the operations of commercial vehicles and compliance with traffic rules and regulations.