A retired Federal High Court judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, has condemned a situation where policemen on VIP escort duty encourage drivers to violate traffic rules, by driving against traffic.
Justice Taiwo, who spoke during a ‘Special Day of Tribute’ held in honour of the late Lt. Gen. Oladipupo Diya on Wednesday in Odogbolu, Ogun State, decried how drivers drive against the traffic with impunity.
“Drivers drive against the traffic with impunity. They are brazen in these acts because the security personnel encourage them directly or tacitly when they have ‘an officer’ in their vehicle even though the said officer is only a rank and file.
“They drive past policemen who turn their eyes away from the naked breach of the law,” he said.
He also lamented what he described as widespread disregard for the rule of law in the country, especially by those in authority.
He said, “Infraction of the law is not healthy in a democratic setup. The law must not be nakedly seen to be broken.
“The impunity at which the government and the governed break the law these days is alarming.”
The retired judge condemned what he called “executive lawlessness which is not limited to failure to follow due process in the conduct of its affairs but also to the refusal to obey court judgments.”
“Security agencies have become laws unto themselves. They act not according to laid down laws, but in line with their whims and caprices.”
Justice Taiwo stressed that Nigeria would be a better place “if we put the rule of law in the forefront of our affairs and accept law and order as a prerequisite.”
