Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has warned traders against conducting business on the roads and causing gridlocks in the state.

LASTMA General Manager, Mr. Bolaji Oreagba, gave the warning on Sunday in Lagos, in a statement issued by the agency’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Mr. Adebayo Taofiq on Sunday in Lagos.

Oreagba said that the warning had become imperative in order to ensure the free flow of traffic across the state during and after the ember months.

According to him, the activities of illegal traders have been impeding the free flow of traffic on major roads across the state.

He quoted Section (1) of the State Street Trading and Illegal Markets Prohibition Law, 2003 as prohibiting both buyers and sellers from engaging in business activities in unauthorized places.

Oreagba said that the law had stipulated various penalties, including jail terms, for anyone found guilty of buying or selling in an unauthorized place.

He added that the warning was also meant to protect the lives of the traders from unforeseen circumstances, such as accidents from reckless drivers.

The general manager expressed the regret that illegal trading had persisted, in spite of several warnings to the traders to stop displaying and selling their wares on main roads, medians, road setbacks, bus stops, and drainage alignments.

He called on market leaders to support the agency in ensuring that the activities of the traders were put under check, to make the roads free for motorists and other road users in the state.

“It has become worrisome having to spend many hours in traffic caused by traders on our roads, thereby creating artificial bottlenecks.

“We have to put a stop to that by ensuring that activities involving buying and selling are taken off the roads and put back into market designed for such,” he said.