Oyeyemi orders step up of patrol operations

The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi has ordered the immediate step-up of patrol operations and also directed commanding officers to ensure strict enforcement on critical offences.

He listed some of these offences to include overloading, rickety vehicles, removal of extra lights, and enforcement of compliance on the restriction of motorcycles and tricycles to their designated routes.

Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the Corps Marshal gave the directives following the imperatives of sustaining existing efforts geared at achieving its year 2020 corporate strategic goals of minimising the risk of death on the road by reducing road traffic crashes by 15 per cent and fatality by 20 per cent.

He noted that the Corps is repositioning, strengthening, and sustaining road safety programmes that are packaged to make the roads safe, and, as such will not tolerate any form of bad driving habit, including overloading of vehicles in persons and goods, fixing of extra lights on vehicles, driving of Ricky vehicles, excessive smoke emission, and riding on undesignated routes by motorcyclists and tricyclists.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Egypt suspends all flight for 2 weeks

This operation, according to the Corps Marshal has become overly relevant owing to the fact that the identified critical offences are major contributors to road traffic crashes with attendant loss of lives and properties.

He said: “The Federal Road Safety Corps is determined and committed to this course and must ensure that it stops at nothing when it comes to cleansing our roads of these ills.

“To this end, violators of traffic laws must desist or face the wrath of the law,” he said.

Oyeyemi warned perpetrators of traffic offences to take a new leave, noting that the entire management staff of the Corps will fully participate in this operation to show how important it is to the Corps.

Kazeem also revealed that severe punishment awaits anyone apprehended in the act, including referrals to designated government health facilities for emotional evaluation, payment of fines and compulsory road safety education.

“The public is therefore called to assist the Corps by reporting any of the stated offences sighted on the road to the spokesperson through the FRSC Toll-Free numbers 122 or tune into the National Traffic Radio 107.1FM to report same or any other contravention that is seen on the road,” he said.