The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Drivers

  • IGP to Abuja drivers: Register your vehicles or face clamp down

    IGP to Abuja drivers: Register your vehicles or face clamp down

    The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase has given Abuja commercial drivers two weeks ultimatum to get proper form of identification for their vehicles or face clamp down.

    The IGP explained that the move is necessary following the rate of insecurity in the country.

    This was disclosed in Abuja Thursday when the national excos of the National Union of Road Transport workers visited him in the Force Headquarters.

    The IGP said: “For now, the clamp down is restricted to Abuja, and it is because Abuja is more cosmopolitan and the complaints we receive are more prevalent in Abuja and that is why we want to clamp down on Abuja quickly before it becomes a nuisance.

    “In Abuja, I think we have a very serious problem, there are lots of kabu kabu drivers on the highway and you will agree with me that when we have issues of insurgency that we have in this country, it could be very dangerous so there must be a way of attacking those vehicles that are not properly registered to avoid calamity.

    He added: “‎I give the drivers  the grace of two weeks, after two weeks, we will start clamping down on all vehicles that ply the highway in FCT without proper identification because we want orderliness.‎ The drivers should either use a particular colour of paint or stickers as form of identification so that our work will be easy for us.

    The IGP while sympathising with the Union over the lives of members that were lost in areas hit by insurgency urged the union to also embrace security in motorparks.

    The Police boss said: “Motor parks should ensure that members register and that when it is time for them to renew their papers that they are also guided on how to go about it. We will also ensure that the parks are well secured.

    Responding, the President of NURTW, Alhaji Najeem Yasin assured the IGP that his members will comply with the directive.

    “We can achieve it in two weeks because we have the members and they will call all other members in FCT to order.”

  • Drivers, residents urge Buhari to rebuild federal roads

    Drivers, residents urge Buhari to rebuild federal roads

    Residents and commercial bus drivers in Aba, Abia State, have urged President Muhammadu Buahri to rebuild the collapsed federal roads not only in the state but also the entire region.

    Not only are the roads broken up in several parts and riddled with potholes; they are nearly impassable when it rains. Those who brave it, have tales of woe.

    Some residents and commercial bus drivers who spoke with our correspondent in Aba, the commercial nerve of the region on Tuesday, lamented that most federal roads in the city and other parts of southeast can only be described as death traps.

    They said that if nothing was urgently done, the Southeast especially Aba may soon be cut off from other parts of the country.

    Checks on Tuesday revealed that out of the three major roads, Aba-Ikot Ekpene Expressway, Port Harcourt Road and the Osisioma axis that connect the city centre to other parts of the region and the Southsouth, the best is the  Osisioma axis, even though it is not in the best of shapes. It serves as the major entrance and exit route for private and commercial vehicles including articulated trucks.

    The Nation can authoritatively report that the heavy influx of vehicles into the city centre through the Osisioma axis usually results to heavy gridlock on the road and one may spend more hours on the road at the slightest drop of rain.

    Residents and business owners who regretted that their repeated appeals and SOS calls to the last administrations at state and federal on their plight failed on deaf ears feared that economic and business activities in the commercial city would crumble if President Buhari and Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration fails to reach an understanding on how to partner with each other to tackle and bring to an end the sufferings of commuters and other road users in the state to an end.

    A commercial motorist plying from Aba to Akwa Ibom State who gave his name as Ifeanyi in a chat with The Nation said that they now use rural roads in Obingwa Local Government to and fro Aba and no thanks to some youths of the communities who always compel them to pay toll fess for using their village roads.

    “I am sure that you might not have traveled to UYO, Akwa Ibom State recently. You need to go to Akwa Ibom through Aba-Ikot Ekpene expressway and see for yourself what drivers are passing through there on a daily basis. We keep patronizing mechanics every week repairing one thing or the other. The only route we now is to find a bit motorable is the village roads, but the youths are also feeding fat on the road. We pay as much as N100 and at some point, we pay N50 and this is to and fro Aba to Akwa Ibom.

    “We are urging the federal and state government to collaborate and do something about the ugly nature of roads liking Aba with Akwa Ibom and other states, if not any other thing, to save us from these youths who are taken advantage of the bad road to exploit us. Aba is a commercial city that attracts traders from different parts of the country and Africa and so therefore, roads linking the city to other state should not be allowed to degenerate so badly as it is today”.

    •A tricycle on Port Harcourt Road, Aba
    •A tricycle on Port Harcourt Road, Aba

    Another commercial bus driver plying Aba-Port Harcourt, Chima Okorie narrating his experience asked the federal government to declare state of emergency on Aba roads.

    Okorie who said he spent nearly 3hrs one of the days last week from Milverton by Asa road to Osisioma because it rained on that day stated that the need for the reconstruction and total repair of all exit routes in Aba cannot be overemphasized, stressing that if the incumbent Governor, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu would be able to fulfill his campaign promises of building more roads and overhead bridges, it was help to decongest the city of heavy trucks that ply on the intra-city roads on daily basis.

    “All we want is for the federal and state government to partner and build more roads. Governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu promised to build more roads and tackle the problem of traffic congestion in Aba. Let them see ways to divert some of the big trucks that come into Aba before going to places like Calabar, Akwa Ibom, Rivers State and other parts of the country from coming into Aba. It will help to avoid the roads from spoiling easily and as such reduce the constant repair of roads.”

    A journey from Milverton to Flyover which normally cost N70           now costs between N120 to N140 and could rise to N200 if rain falls.

    A resident of Ude Nwanyi by Port Harcourt Road, Mr. Kingsley Offor said that the situation could sometimes get worse that they have to trek home from Milverton because some of the tricycle drivers would not want “to go beyond no. 1 Port Harcourt road because they either do not want to be held in traffic or get their tricycle trapped in the water.

    “If there are people who will pray to God and God will answer their prayers, we living at Port Harcourt road will always pray for dry season throughout the year. That is the only time we can to an extent go home comfortably. Government should please look into our case. The past governor of the state and the past president could not do anything to ameliorate our situation and we hope that the story will not be the same now that Dr. Victor Okezie Ikpeazu and president Buhari are in power.

    I also believe that despite their political party difference, that they should consider the plight of Aba residents as Nigerians who are in dire need of both the presence of government at the state and federal level. Aba is an economic city that has and is still attracting investors and buyers from all over the world and should not be allowed to degenerate badly, Offor cried out passionately.

    It could be recalled that the administration of Governor Ikpeazu had flagged off the reconstruction of 7 roads in Aba with the promise that it would be completed and commissioned within its 100 days in office.

  • Drivers, FRSC partner to reduce tanker accidents

    Drivers, FRSC partner to reduce tanker accidents

    The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG),  has said it is committed to partnering with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to reduce  tanker accidents.

    Rising from its quarterly National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Sokoto State, the union restated its zero tolerance for night driving by its members, adding that no driver would, henceforth, drive trucks not properly maintained by the owners.

    It also resolved to accord priority to the training and retraining of its members on road habits, and to equip its leaders with requisite skills to meet the changing techniques of haulage business.

    PTD’s National Public Relations Officer Comrade Atanda Adebayo, in a statement, said the NEC meeting which was also attended by the Sokoto State Governor, Mr. Aminu Waziri Tambuwwal, and the FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, praised the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for the regular rehabilitation of all roads across the country.  It called for more positive action on roads that are still in poor state, highlighting among such roads the Ilorin-Oloru Jebba Road, where motorists spend up to 72 hours (three days) for a one hour journey.

    The union called on the Federal Government to deliver safer inter-state roads, adding that bad roads are identified as major causes of accidents.

    PTD national chairman Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, praised the FRSC for the just concluded summit on haulage operations, where stakeholders brainstormed on the challenges facing haulage business.

    He said the union would henceforth be organising awareness campaign for tanker drivers at strategic locations across the country on the need for them to always observe rest to prevent fatigue and loss of concentration and accident.

    Oladiti said the union would continue its zero tolerance to night driving and insist that no driver henceforth drive any trucks not properly and regularly maintained by the owners.

    It would be recalled that searchlight was beamed on the activities of petroleum tanker drivers earlier in the month with a string of tanker accidents and explosions than spanned four states, left no fewer than 80 dead and millions of naira worth of property destroyed.

  • Speed limiter not available, drivers allege

    Speed limiter not available, drivers allege

    Twenty days to the expiration of the deadline for the installation of speed limiters on commercial vehicles, trucks, trailers and other articulated vehicles, commercial drivers are complaining about the non- availability of the device.

    Those who spoke to The Nation said they could not get the device to buy, arguing that it would be wrong for the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to begin enforcement under such a situation.

    The deadline for the installation of the device is June 1.

    A driver, Jelil Abdulkareem, who operates at the Ojota Park, said he had gone twice to the accredited retailers of the device but could not get it.

    Another, who identified himself as Abraham, said the device is scarce, wondering how the agency could go ahead with its enforcement when many drivers were yet to get it.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Kayode Opeifa also raised some of these concerns at the last stakeholders’ meeting, in Lagos last Tuesday.

    He said besides unavailability of the equipment, FRSC must look at the fundamental rights of some individuals, especially, drivers who may insist that they do not need any device to regulate their speed.

    The device, he noted could be introduced where there is growing indiscipline, arising from over-speeding, adding: “The government has a responsibility to ensure that lives are protected. You have no right to kill or maim any Nigerian just because you wanted to make money as a driver. That is why the FRSC has come up with the speed limiter which ensures that it regulates your speed and keep you and others safe.”

    The FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi said the limiter is a global solution to reducing the rising road fatalities.

    He said no fewer than 7, 308 lives were lost to road accidents in the past 15 months noting: “At the last year world remembrance for road traffic crashes victims, the focus was on speed, speed is one of the leading causes of death globally.

    “In 2014, we recorded 10, 380 Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) and about 6,000 lives were lost and 2,063 were injured.

    “And for this year, in the first quarter of 2015, we recorded 2,342 RTC while 1,308 lives were lost and these are our future leaders.

    “We have identified, that in all these reports, 50.8 per cent of the crashes were speed related and loss of control carried 16 per cent.

    “Speed is a key factor in crashes and once we can tame this, I am sure things will be much better.

    “This led to the global recommendation that speed limiting devices should be introduced in every country as part of the global strategies to curb losses on roads.”

    The Corps, Oyeyemi said, targets zero death in crashes adding that it is committed to the United Nations Action Plan on reduction of road fatalities by 50 percent.

    He said all the stakeholders agreed to begin the enforcement on June 1.

    Oyeyemi said the enforcement would be in phases, with FRSC starting with commercial vehicles.

    According to him, the organised transport sector has seen the device’s benefits, which he said, include controlling fuel consumption, enhancement of the lifespan of vehicles, elimination of crashes, reduction in carbon emission and zero death.

    He said at the African Action Plan summit held in Accra, Ghana recently, only Kenya had demonstrated a serious implementation of the installation of the device.

    He said the commission had started training its personnel to ensure maximum compliance and enforcement.

    He commended the Federal Government for improved road network stressing however that no road in the country met the minimum requirement of an expressway.

    Minister of Works Mike Onolememen, represented by Mr Adetokunbo Sogbesan, said the menace of Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) had become a concern to the government.

    The Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Dr Joseph Odumodu said the device would be built into the vehicle engines to checkmate speed.

    Odumodu, represented by Mr Richard Adewumi, SON’s Head of Electrical, presented a paper titled: ‘Speed Limiting Devices: Requirements and Specifications for System Components and Implementation’.

    He said: “No matter the level of acceleration the driver want to attained once the maximum speed is set, you can go beyond it.

    “The essence of the standard is to prevent people from committing suicide.’’

    The director said the device has a recorder that could print out the speed record when a driver is stopped by traffic agents.

    He said environmental issues such as temperature, salty water, dust, heat, contaminants, etc were factored into the device for effective operation.

  • Drivers claim ignorance of speed limiter

    Drivers claim ignorance of speed limiter

    Are commercial bus operators aware of the planned introduction of the Speed Limit Device (SLD) by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in June? No, say some drivers, who claimed that they were hearing about the device for the first time.

    In 2014, FRSC announced that the enforcement of the device would begin on June 1.

    Mr Kamilu Salaudeen, who plies Idumota-Oshodi route, said he had never heard of the device or its enforcement by the FRSC.

    “I am hearing of the speed limit device from you for the first time; how can FRSC start enforcement in June when the people involved are not aware of the device?” Salaudeen asked.

    Mr Collins Chuka, who plies Ojuelegba-Lawanson route, said the device may not be for intra-state commercial bus operators, because nobody has drawn their attention to it.

    “I am not sure this device you have just brought to my notice is for us drivers who ply our vehicle within the state, maybe it is only for inter-state buses alone,” Chuka said.

    An inter-state commercial driver, who simply identified himself as Biodun and plies Ijora-Ibadan, also claimed ignorance of the device.

    But, Mr Hyginus Omeje, FRSC Lagos Sector Commander, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the transport unions had been informed about the device, its importance and enforcement.

    “On this Thursday hopefully, there will be a mega rally here in Lagos with the Corps Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, on the enforcement campaign,” Omeje said.

  • Drivers, passengers groan over delay at Ondo Military check-point

    Drivers and passengers plying the Akure-Abuja road yesterday groaned over delays at the Owena military check- point near Igbara-oke in Ifedore local government area.

    Trailer drivers, numbering about 50, were stranded on the road as soldiers prevented them from moving passing through the road.

    Some of the passengers who spoke with The Nation lamented that they had been on the road since 6.00am with empty stomach.

    The drivers, who were seen at 5.30 pm at the check point, said they had planned to get to Akure before commencement of the exercise by 8am.

    One of the drivers, who identified himself as Ayotunde Olusegun, lamented that they could not eat or drink for several hours as a result of the delay.

    He said the soldiers who mounted surveillance on the road also threatened to beat them.

    The officers however declined comment on the development.

  • Easter: FRSC conducts drunk test on drivers

    Easter: FRSC conducts drunk test on drivers

    Towards ensuring an accident free Easter, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC Thursday conducted drunk test on commercial bus drivers at major parks in the city.

    It has also deployed 455 patrol vehicles, 66 Ambulances, 102 motor bikes, 12 tow trucks and over 34,000 personnel along designated routes as part of measures to ensure sanity on the nation’s highways, during the season.

    Part of this nationwide engagement plans, according to the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Boboye Oyeyemi, is massive deployment of personnel and logistics along 23 designated critical corridors and black spots such as Sagamu-Ore-Benin, Lokoja-Benin-Auchi, Onitsha-Ihiala-Aba, Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-HawanKibo-Jos,Minna-Birnin-Kebbi-Sokoto-Gusau-Funtua-Zaria,Kabba-Umuoke-Ekiti-Ido-Ilesha,Benin-Warri- Patani – Portharcourt and Makurdi- Oturkpo-Obollo Afor-9th Mile highways and 65 routes, identified for this exercise”.

    Similarly, the Corps’ 24 emergency ambulance response centres located at designated routes across the country in the FCT, Kaduna, Gombe, Jigawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Ondo, Edo, Osun, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kwara states,  will be operational throughout the period.

    The FRSC said it will be complemented by relevant stakeholders such as the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Emergency Management Agency and others.

    This year’s nationwide exercise has become necessary to reduce the spate of road traffic crashes in the country usually resulting from violations of traffic rules and regulations, most especially during festive seasons.

    The special patrol also entails intensive patrols, prompt rescue services, strict enforcement of traffic rules and robust public enlightenment campaigns across the nation.

    Furthermore, the Corps Marshal has directed the removal of obstructions from the highways while efforts should be geared towards public enlightenment campaigns through the distribution of safety handbills. Infractions such as use of cell phone while driving, speed limit violation/dangerous driving, removal of rickety vehicles, overloading/wrongful over taking, number plate (defaced) violation, expired/fake driver’s licence violations will attract severe sanctions from the Corps.

    Motorists are also warned to ensure strict compliance with all traffic rules and regulations and proper maintenance of their vehicles. Passengers are equally enjoined to monitor their drivers on reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and other road vices.

  • Students, drivers at war over fare

    Students, drivers at war over fare

    The refusal of commercial bus drivers to revert to the old fare and reduce the number of their passengers has pitched them against students of Ekiti State University (EKSU). Last week, the students barred the buses from entering the campus unless the drivers accede to their demands. BAMIDELE ADIO (200-Level Social Studies Education) reports.

    The crisis at the Ekiti State University (EKSU) may be far from over, given students’ complaints over the “excess” load of  commercial vehicles plying the campus were carrying. The students accused drivers of mini buses called Akoto of subjecting them to inhuman treatment by carrying excess passengers to make “excess profits”.

    Penultimate Friday, activities on the campus were disrupted when the students protested over the matter. Besides, the students are calling for a reduction in transport fare, which was increased to N70.

    Before fuel subsidy was removed, the fare from Iworoko, where most of the students reside, to the campus was N50, with the buses carrying seven passengers each. Following subsidy removal, the fare was increased to N70 with 10 passengers in a bus.

    Following the reduction in petrol  price from N97 to N87, students expected the bus operators to slash the fare. But, the drivers have not done so.

    In anger, students barred their colleagues from boarding the  buses. The drivers were not allowed into the campus by the protesters, who asked them to see students as human beings.

    Olayemi Atoki, a 400-Level English and Literary Studies student, said: “Naturally, we are not supposed to plead with the drivers to reduce the fare. But, they are telling us that they are insensitive to our plight by not having the plan to reduce the fare despite the slash in petrol pump price.”

    A commercial driver, who gave his name as Muri, said the prevailing economic condition would not make them to reduce the fare. “We increased the fare in 2012, because of oil subsidy and bad road. If you are aware of the situation then, it is still the same condition because from the campus to Iworoko is about 30minutes journey. You don’t expect us to revert to N50.”

    Another driver, who preferred to be called Dongo, said: “We also have families to cater for. We cannot reduce the transport fare to N50 because it would not be profitable.”

    A 400-Level Faculty of Science student, Ifemide Aduloju, said the drivers had no reason not to reduce the fare since the conditions that warranted the increment had changed.

    She said: “The fare was increased because of poor road and petrol price. This is 2015, the Iworoko road is now in good shape and the journey is about 20 minutes. There should be reduction without anyone telling them.”

    Atunbotan Eniafe, a 300-Level Political Science student, described the fare as outrageous, saying the drivers must stop exploiting students. He said the sitting arrangement must also be changed from 10 passengers to seven if the drivers are not willing to reduce the fare.

    “We only demand that the bus drivers reduce the fare to N50 and maintain the 4-4-2 sitting arrangement or maintain the N70 fare and adjust the sitting arrangement to 3-3-1,” he said.

    According to Akeem Lasisi, a student of Management Science, the university management should be blamed for the drivers’ effrontery to exploit the students. “They are seeing us as money-making venture. We pay all sort of fees, including N10,000 for internet; we don’t have internet access. All of these give the drivers the courage to also exploit us,” he said.

    Oyenusi Ijigbami, a 400-Level student of Faculty of Science, also blamed the management. The university, he said, introduced Entrepreneurship Skill Course (ESC) and asked students to pay N1,000. “Why should we pay for a course introduced by the management? This is extortion and the commercial bus operators derive their courage from this,” he said.

    Oyenusi said students were yet to attend lecture on the course but the management kept asking students to pay the fee.

     

  • Drivers celebrate

    The annual get-together of the UNILORIN Drivers’ Welfare Association will hold on Saturday at the university’s Pensioners Secretariat on the Mini Campus.

    A statement by the Chairman of the association’s Ceremonial Committee, Mr. Omowumi Sunday, disclosed that the event will also serve as send-off ceremony for its members who retired within the last one year, and election of new officers for the association.

  • 47 drivers convicted

    forty seven drivers in Kogi State have been convicted for traffic offences in the last one week, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has said.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital, Kogi FRSC Sector Commander Godwin Omiko described the convicts as “serial violators of road safety rules”.

    He said the drivers were arraigned at a mobile court presided over by a Senior Magistrate, Mrs Rachael Omajali, who after trial found them guilty.

    Their offences ranged from overloading to speeding, seat belt violation and making/receiving phone calls while driving, among others.

    The convicts were jailed between three months and one year, and given options of fines ranging from N2,500 to N10,000.