We’ve made 364,000 arrests in nine months ― Boboye, FRSC boss

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that the Corps made 364,000 arrests, booked 36,463 offenders for 405,338 traffic infractions in the past nine months.

The FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi made this disclosure exclusively to Tribune Online recently.

Boboye explained that the figure is an average of 90,000 offenders while acknowledging that the Agency is not yet there.

He, therefore, noted that it is the reason why the Corps established offices in all the local governments.

“It would interest you to look at our activities and the offences and the number of arrests we have made from January till date.

“We have arrested about 364,000 people and 36,463 offenders were arrested for 405,338 offences. We are working and you can see the average. Look at 364,000 arrests in the past eight and a half months.

“That is an average of 90,000 offenders arrested. Yet, we are not there.

“And one of the things we have done now is that the Corps has established offices in all the local governments,” he said.

While speaking on the causes of crashes in the country, the Corp Marshal pointed at overspeeding as the major cause of crashes in the country.

Boboye, therefore, emphasized the need to raise the level of enforcement prior to the end of the year.

“Speed is the number one problem we have today. And we need to raise our level of enforcement before the year runs out.

“Speed is a major issue we need to battle with. Speed is very critical,”  Boboye said.

While touching on the recent fatalities in Kogi State, he stated that the unfortunate incident brought up both encouraging and worrisome responses.

Oyeyemi explained that the encouraging response means the people appreciate the Agency’s efforts, while worrisome means that the lives lost could have been avoided if the driver had applied his common sense speed limit.

He explained further that the common sense speed limit means cutting down the speed which would have been preventive because Felele is the last small settlement to Lokoja.

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“We observed that since posting our personnel to the tank farms, crashes from tankers have dropped. It is just the gravity of those crashes.

“Like this one now, see the response from all over the country. The response all over the country is very encouraging and worrisome.

“Encouraging in the sense that, the people appreciate the efforts. Worrisome, in the sense that, those lives lost could have been avoided only if the driver on his approach to the city uses his common sense speed limit.

“What we call the common sense speed limit is to cut down the speed and it would have been preventive because Felele is the last small settlement before you enter Lokoja, and the traffic rules and regulations on the Highway Code stipulates that while approaching built-up areas, your speed is not supposed to be more than 40km per hour.

“Peradventure there is need for you to stop, your taking distance and your braking distance will give you the stopping distance,” he said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE