In an unprecedented move, the government of Lagos state in Nigeria’s South-west has banned the use of siren by the convoys of state governors and other government officials visiting the state, the local press reported Tuesday. It said Gov. Babatunde Fashola announced the ban Monday, a week after navy soldiers attached to the siren-baring convoy of a senior naval officer assaulted a lady motorist and stripped her naked, for allegedly blocking the convoy, triggering a nation-wide condemnation. Fashola said the use of siren by government officials was a way of ”terrorising the taxpayers” whom they were supposed to serve. ”Let us get rid of this nuisance (siren) on which we spend millions of our hard-earned money to keep the producers in Europe and America in business,” he said. The convoy of the governor does not use siren, but governors of other states as well as other government officials visiting the country’s grid-lock-prone commercial capital use siren to harass motorists and pave the way for their convoys.
