People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has condemned the abuse and indiscriminate use of sirens by so-called Very Important Personalities (VIPs) in Nigerian roads.
He disclosed that on a daily basis, on Nigerian roads, in many major cities, ordinary citizens face threats of harassment, intimidation, vandalism, brutality and even death in the hands of supposed public servants and other prominent Nigerians who use escorts and blare sirens up and down.
Onuesoke, who condemned the act in Warri, Delta State in a statement made available to TribuneOnline weekend, said people have noted with great dismay the regrettable and serious abuse of the privilege in recent times by VIP’s convoys misusing sirens.
He stressed that their siren-blaring convoys usually force oncoming vehicles to either stop or clear off the road in a manner that exposes law-abiding road users to avoidable hazards.
He pointed out that sirens are essentially designed to be used in an emergency, but regrettably noted that in Nigeria, especially in Delta State, sirens are rather used to harass, intimidate and, sometimes, inflict avoidable injuries that could be fatal on road users and innocent members of the public.
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“Road users and pedestrians, particularly school children, are daily under constant harassment from the wailing sirens of governors, ministers, senators, police chiefs, customs bosses, immigration comptrollers, traditional rulers, clerics and sometimes even local government chairmen,” he affirmed.
The former governorship aspirant added that all the officials along with other prominent figures, including state and federal lawmakers, wealthy businessmen and flamboyant religious leaders, indiscriminately deploy the use of siren-blaring convoys when they move around either in major cities or while travelling around the country.
He noted that most of the public officials, who use sirens on Nigerian roads, terrorizing innocent citizens, actually do so, albeit illegally.
The PDP Chieftain argued that Section 154 of the National Road Traffic Regulation, NRTR, 2012, Part XIV states: “No person other than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Vice President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Deputy President of the Senate, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Governors and Deputy Governors of States shall drive a vehicle on any public road using sirens, flashers or beacon lights.”
He wondered why personalities not captured in the traffic regulation code stated above throw caution to the wind in endangering the lives of road users and causing public nuisance with their sirens.
To restore sanity to Nigeria roads, Onuesoke, therefore, appealed to law enforcement agencies to execute the law by holding those violating the law accountable on the roads.
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