The Corps Marshal of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, has decried the continuous carriage of containers by flatbed trailers without proper latching on the highways and ordered immediate impoundment of such vehicles by patrol teams anytime they are sighted.
The Corps Public Education Officer, Mr Bisi Kazeem, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said Oyeyemi was concerned about the danger this constitute to the public and other road users.
He said the Corps Marshal, in a bid to get such dangerous trailers off the road, has cemented a partnership with the Nigerian Ports Authority to ensure that such vehicles are not allowed to leave the Ports in the first instance unless on the condition of full compliance of the latching and with other maximum safety standards.
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Speaking on the dangers of such to other road users, Oyeyemi said that apart from the dangers to lives and properties, these containers, when they fall on the highways or any part of the road, could easily lead to unnecessary road obstruction that would cause undue hardship to motorists who would have much of their travelling time wasted on the road before the obstruction is cleared.
He said: “So, in order to avert this and put a stop to further recurrence, the Corps Marshal has directed the Operatives of the Corps to be on red alert and impound at sight, any of such trailers found in the act.”
He also revealed that the Corps would achieve this in friendly collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.
He also called on the public to take advantage of the National Traffic Radio 107.1 FM or the toll-free 122 numbers to report any of such trailers seen on the highways without proper latching of containers, saying the National Traffic Radio numbers to call at all times are 09067000015 and 0805 299 8090.