The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FRSC

  • FRSC inaugurates vehicles, ambulances, tow trucks

    FRSC inaugurates vehicles, ambulances, tow trucks

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) will unveil operational vehicles, ambulances and a heavy duty tow truck tomorrow at the Peace Park by International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Its Head of Media Relations and Strategy, Bisi Kazeem said, the inauguration will enable the Corps achieve its goal of reducing road traffic by 15 percent and fatalities by 25 per cent in 2016.

    Speaking on the proposed formal launch of the patrol vehicles, the FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi said that the occasion “will symbolise the sustained intent of the federal government to raise the bar on road safety management and collective dedication to the task of exploring innovative and resourceful ways of funding the road safety intervention in the road sector.”

    Oyeyemi said the patrol vehicles and ambulances will be distributed along major corridors as part of measures to enhance road safety management and increase safety enforcement strategies.

  • Lagos, FRSC to phase out fake number plates, drivers’ licenses

    Lagos, FRSC to phase out fake number plates, drivers’ licenses

    The Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Vehicle Inspection Service has initiated moves to eliminate incidences of fake motor documents and drivers’ licenses.

    General Manager of the Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) Lateef Lawal stated this at the agency’s headquarters in Alausa yesterday.

    He said the collaboration will also ensure that the process of obtaining motor documents and drivers’ license are seamless and less cumbersome.

    Reacting to an online publication, which challenged the genuineness of number plates in the state, Lawal affirmed that number plates issued by the agency are genuine and authentic.

    He said that the production of the number plates is the responsibility of the Lagos State Number Plates Production Authority while his agency is saddled with the responsibility of issuing the plates to end users.

    To avoid falling victim of fake number plates, Lawal stressed the need for motorists to obtain their motor insurance policy from duly accredited insurance companies to complete their registration process.

    He equally stressed that motor vehicle administration services are fully automated, adding that the agency came first in a service delivery contest by the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation under the Office of Head of Service in the State.

    He also restated his agency’s commitment to continue to offer qualitative service delivery to residents in the state.

  • Lagos, FRSC move to phase out fake number plates, drivers’ license

    Lagos, FRSC move to phase out fake number plates, drivers’ license

    The Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Vehicle Inspection Service has initiated moves that would ensure that the era of fake motor documents and drivers’ license becomes a thing of the past.

    General Manager of the Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), Mr. Lateef Lawal, who disclosed this at the Agency’s headquarters in Alausa yesterday, said the collaboration would also ensure that the process of obtaining motor documents and drivers’ license are seamless and less cumbersome.

    Reacting to an on-line publication which challenged the genuineness of number plates in the state, Lawal affirmed that number plates issued by the Agency are genuine and authentic.

    He said that the production of the number plates is the responsibility of the Lagos State Number Plates Production Authority, while his agency is saddled with the responsibility of issuing the plates to end users.

    To avoid falling victim of fake number plates, Lawal stressed the need for motorists to obtain their motor insurance policy from duly accredited insurance companies in order to complete their registration process.

    In addition, the General Manager advised motorist to desist from engaging touts to procure motor documents; just as he encouraged them to patronize any of the MVAA offices located in the 89 out-stations across the State for all vehicle particulars.

    He also emphasized the need for prospective drivers to go for training at accredited driving schools as a necessary pre-requisite for obtaining driver’s license.

    He equally stressed that motor vehicle administration services are fully automated, adding that the agency came first in a service delivery contest organized by the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation under the Office of Head of Service in the State.

    He also restated his agency’s commitment to continue to offer qualitative service delivery to residents in the state.

     

  • FRSC fines woman N66,000

    FRSC fines woman N66,000

    A woman, Mrs Ndidi Amehia Eleazar, caused a stir yesterday on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, when she sat on the bonnet of her car to evade arrest.

    Accused of biting the thumb of a Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) officer, she was  arraigned before the FRSC Mobile Court.

    The incident caused a gridlock at the Tollgate end of the expressway.

    A combined team from the Ota and Agbado commands were  on the road with a mobile court to sensitise motorists and prosecute traffic offenders when they noticed the woman driving with a cracked windscreen.

    The vehicle also had worn out tyres, which the officers categorised as secondary offence. After being informed of her offences, Mrs. Eleazar  ignored the safety officer.

    It was gathered that she attempted to drive off with the safety officer, but the officer switched off the ignition and removed the key.

    The woman was said to have bit the officer on the thumb.  She  alighted from the vehicle and sat on the bonnet with the car in the middle of the highway.

    She was eventually docked before the mobile court on a five-count charge of windscreen violation, tyre violation, dangerous driving, assaulting marshal on duty and obstructing marshal on duty.

    Mrs. Eleazar was presented before Magistrate S Banwo of Magistrates’ Court 3 of Ota division and fined N66, 000.00.

    The Unit Commander, Leye Adegboyega, said the Corps will not compromise on its vision to eradicate accidents and create a safe motoring environment for the public.

    Thirty offenders were arraigned before the magistrate; 29 were convicted and one discharged.

  • FRSC redeploys officers

    FRSC redeploys officers

    The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, has approved redeployment of some senior officers to step up effectiveness of the commission.

    The Head, Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja yesterday.

    He said “Affected principal officers include: Mr. Austin Aipoh, Head, Command Administration and Strategy at the headquarters to replace Mr. Stephen Maitizumahs at Zone 11 Osogbo, who will now head Manpower Development(MPD), FRSC.

    “Similarly, former head, Manpower Development, Kingsley Agomoh now to command Zone 7, Gwagwalada covering FCT and Niger State while Mr. Jonas Agwu, Zonal Commander, Zone 7, now to Command Zone 6, Port-Harcourt covering Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States.”

    He added Zonal Commander, Zone 1, Kaduna covering Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and Katsina States, Victor Nwokolo, is now to head, Command Administration and Strategy, FRSC headquarters while Mr. Bitrus Darwang of Zone 6 now to command Zone 1 consisting of Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Katsina sector Commands.

    Others affected are some Zonal Heads of Operations, Zonal Administration Officers and Unit Commanders among others.

    The redeployment letter by Corps Secretary FRSC states that affected officers are to report in their new commands on or before May 17 after proper handing and taking over.

  • FRSC report on Ekiti doctors

    SIR: It is no longer news that medical doctors nationwide are currently mourning their heroes who lost their lives on Sunday, April 24 on their way to the just concluded Annual Delegates Meeting/Annual General Meeting in Sokoto. What is news is that officials of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) want to use the opportunity to advertise their speed limiting devices hence their report that over-speeding caused the tyre of the vehicle conveying the doctors to burst.

    The survivors of the accident have since raised important issues in their respective rebuttals of the FRSC report concerning the cause of the fatal accident. First, that the officials of FRSC arrived more than 40 minutes after the accident occurred and so the five victims who could have been saved died before FRSC officials arrived at the scene. The implication is either that the FRSC officials did not know the meaning of Golden hour in trauma management or they were not at their duty post at the time of the accident. Second, the officials who arrived at the scene albeit belatedly were oblivious of the happenings in the area just as they were also ill-prepared for any emergency. This is evidenced by the fact that they carried the victims to a hospital, Doka General Hospital where nothing was in place to manage accident victims.

    Equally important is that officials of the FRSC also did not have enough fuel in their fuel tank. When one of the survivors accepted to buy fuel for them, they went in search of fuel but when they finally bought it, the golden hour needed for the remaining two critically injured victims had passed. Thus, on getting to St Gerard hospital Kaduna, two of the victims were confirmed dead. The two could have survived had FRSC officials come prepared with enough fuel in their vehicle.

    This last point is very important because I am aware that there is budgetary allocation for FRSC operations. The question is who feeds on the money meant for the fuelling of FRSC vehicles? Who are the cabals managing the FRSC budgetary allocation for fuelling their vehicles?

    When James Ocholi, Minister of State for Labour and Employment and some members of his family died in similar circumstance, FRSC officials gave Nigerians the same reason of over-speeding as the cause of the burst tyre. Does it then mean that every accident that happens along the Abuja-Kaduna road is due to over-speeding? Could it not also be as a result of the deplorable state of the road?

    More worrisome is the fact that FRSC officials who arrived more than 40 minutes later claim to know more facts about the accident than the survivors and other eyewitnesses. I ask again, how can this be?

    Recall that the same FRSC that told Nigerians that Ocholi’s driver had no driving licence as if drivers undergo any special training before obtaining the licence. What role would such a licence have played to make Ocholi’s driver more responsible or even professional on the road? If it were in developed countries FRSC officials would be sweating to defend their incompetence and ineptitude in handling the case of the Ekiti State NMA delegates but here they are attacking the bereaved and the deceased with their fallacies.

    It is like in Nigeria, there are few sentences one must learn in order to work in a particular institution. In the police, one must learn to say, we are on top of the situation, even when one is as confused as other citizens out there. In the FRSC, one must learn to relate all road traffic accidents to over-speeding even if the state of the roads is so poor that a speed of more than 10km/h is practically impossible.

     

    • Dr Paul John,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Oyo accident caused by speed violation – FRSC

    Oyo accident caused by speed violation – FRSC

    The accident that killed eight school children and the driver in Oyo State on Tuesday was caused by speed violation, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said on Wednesday.

    A Toyota Hummer bus conveying the students from Lagos to Kano was involved in a lone accident at about 10:50am around Motunde area of Oyo State.

    According to the Head, Media and Strategy at the FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, the accident occurred at about 25.5km from Ojo.

    Kazeem said, “The accident was reported at 10:50am at Ibadan-Oyo route, Motunde area 25.5km from Ojo. It was a lone accident involving a white Toyota Hummer bus with registration number KN76-A13.

    “18 persons were involved in the fatal accident including four male adults, one adult female and 13 children.

    “The accident was caused by burst tyre and speed violation. Nine persons sustained injuries, which are four adult males, four male children and the adult female.

    “Eight children were killed and the driver later died in the hospital. The injured were taken to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and the corpses were handed over to the police who took them to the General Hospital, Oyo.”

  • FRSC arrests 4,933 drivers in three months

    FRSC arrests 4,933 drivers in three months

    FOUR Thousand Nine Hundred And Thirty Three drivers were apprehended for 5,610 traffic offences between January and March, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said yesterday.

    FRSC Zone II Commanding Officer Nseobong Apkabio told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the offenders were private and commercial drivers.

    He said their offences ranged from driving above the speed limit to excessive passengers and worn-out tyres.

    Akpabio said: “The FRSC special squad that was inaugurated when I resumed duty in Zone II has been working towards reducing crashes on the road.

    “All the eight commands in Lagos with about six commands from Ogun State were on the road daily and apprehended 4,933 drivers for committing 5,610 offences in the first quarter.

    “Some of the offences included driving above the speed limit, carrying more than approved passengers in their vehicles, driving with worn-out tyres, overtaking dangerously and operating with malfunctioning vehicles.

    “We believe that the number of drivers that were apprehended also helped us to also educate others who were not apprehended.”

    He urged motorists to slow down on approaching such officers whether they were stopped or not, saying: “it may be an intervention by God.

    “There was a particular incidence where a driver that was arrested went on to give testimony that he would have been dead if he hadn’t been stopped by road safety personnel.

    “What happened? His tyre was wobbling at the back, but he thought it was the bad portion of the road that made the noise so he refused to stop because he carried excess passengers.

    “The patrol team then informed the next patrol team, so he was apprehended when he finally stopped.

    “In less than a second after he was stopped by another patrol team, his vehicle’s tyre exploded, which means there could have been a disaster if he refused to stop the second time.”

    Akpabio warned motorists against speeding and night travel on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in view of its ongoing rehabilitation, saying: “we don’t want people to die but for people to be alive.”

    He urged officers and men of the FRSC on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway corridor to intensify efforts towards reducing crashes.

    “We would intensify effort to reduce the trend of crashes on that corridor, as the Corps Marshal has given us six new patrol vehicles and more are coming.

    “We have trained our personnel on civility-how to relate with members of the public – and more phases are coming up to make them meet up with the required service delivery,” Akpabio said.

    According to him, in addition to strict enforcement, the FRSC has mapped out monitoring strategies and surveillance to check its personnel operations on the corridor.

    He appealed to passengers to cooperate with the corps, saying: “do not allow your driver drive above the speed limit; we want people to be alive”.

  • FRSC: expired burst tyre caused accident

    FRSC: expired burst tyre caused accident

    The burst rear tyre of the vehicle conveying the Ekiti State delegates to the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association in Sokoto was manufactured in 2008, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has revealed.

    Findings show that the life expectancy of a tyre from the day of manufacture, especially in a country such as Nigeria is four years. In other countries with good road network it is about six years.

    FRSC team leader Asst Corps Marshall Victor C. Nwokolo revealed the status of the tyre when he conducted the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, round the scene of the accident.

    Nwokolo attributed the cause of the accident to a sudden burst of the rear tyre that was manufactured in 2008 and the sudden application of break by the panicked driver.

    He said some precautions could have saved the victims, such as usage of seat belt, non-application of brake when there is a tyre burst, 15 minutes break after every four-hour drive and not driving after a heavy meal, among others.

    The minister lamented the tragic loss, saying his visit was to see what lessons could be drawn from the incident to forestall a recurrence.

    Ehanire called for Emergency Management Training (EMT) for FRSC ambulance team and techniques on safe driving for all drivers.

    At St. Gerald’s Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna, where the victims were treated, the minister praised the hospital staff for caring for the victims.

  • Expired burst tyre responsible for doctors’ death – FRSC

    Expired burst tyre responsible for doctors’ death – FRSC

    The burst rear tyre of the vehicle conveying the medical doctors to Sokoto was manufactured 2008, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has revealed.

    According to findings a tyre life expectancy from the day of manufacturing, especially in a country like ours is four years, while in countries with good road network is about six years.

    Six medical doctors and the driver of the vehicle died as a result of the sudden burst of tyre. The doctors were on their way to Sokoto for the annual conference of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

    FRSC team leader, Assistant Corps Marshall, Victor C. Nwokolo revealed the status of the vehicle tyre when he conducted the minister of state, Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire round the scene of the accident.

    Nwokolo attributed the cause of the accident to a sudden burst of the rear tyre that was manufactured in the year 2008 and sudden application of break by the panicked driver.

    He however hinted that some precautions could have saved the victims, like usage of seat belt, non application of break when there is tyre burst, take 15munites break after every 4hrs drive and don’t drive after taking a heavy meal, amongst others.

    The Minister of State, Health lamented the tragic loss; stressing that his visit was aimed at seeing what lessons could be drawn from the sad incident to forestall future occurrence.

    Dr. Ehanire stressed the urgent need for Emergency Management Training (EMT) for Road safety ambulance team and techniques on safe driving for all drivers.

    At St. Gerald’s Catholic hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna where the late victims were treated, the Minister commended the hospital staff for caring for the victims.

    He also said that Health Ministry would collaborate with the hospital in accident emergency response and management under the Private Public Partnership arrangement (PPP).

    The proprietor of the hospital, Most Rev. Dr. Mathew Ndagoso who was represented by the hospital’s administrator, Reverend Sister, Beatrice Danladi, noted that the hospital, though  a faith-based, did all medically to save the lives of the victims when they were admitted, but were not successful.

    She however appealed to government to assist in upgrading the accident and emergency unit of the hospital as this would guarantee better service to accident victims who are often rushed to the hospital from Kano, Zaria, Kafanchan, Sokoto and Gusau.