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Tag: FRSC

  • FRSC urges motorists to drive with caution

    FRSC urges motorists to drive with caution

    The Ogun State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has advised drivers to be more careful in December to avoid crashes.

    The new Sector Commander, Adegoke Adetunji, spoke yesterday in Ijebu-Ode during his maiden familiarisation tour of the unit command.

    He urged motorists to be patient and avoid illegal crossing on the highways.

    The commander advised them to observe driving rules and regulations as well as road signs.

    He said this was the major way to avoid road crashes.

    on our roads.

    Adetunji said that the high ways are expected to busy as people would be travelling to other part of the country to celebrate festive with their families.

    He said as he assumed office, he has embark on public enlightenment and patrol operations to ensure that crashes of vehicles are reduce in the state.

    In his words; “I want to advise our motorist to be careful. They should be aware that over speeding, overloading, not use of seatbelt, and making calls while driving are not allowed on our road. They should know that patient is the watchword while driving. “I also want to tell you that we have discussed the conditions of our roads in ogun state, especially the Ijebu-ode- Ore express way with the government and we can see that they are really working on it to ensure that they fill-up the pot holes on this road.

  • FRSC cautions motorists over harmattan haze

    FRSC cautions motorists over harmattan haze

    Worried by the prevailing weather condition and attendant road traffic challenges, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has advised motorists to be conscious of the foggy weather condition associated with the harmattan season.

    This weather condition, according to the corps’ Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, could lead to confusion on highways.

    He urged road users to note that this is the period when the northeast wind blows cool but dry winds from the Sahara desert.

    “Your task as a safety-conscious driver is to know how to adjust your driving to meet conditions on the road or to know how to maintain a modicum of safety when you find yourself in bad weather,”Agwu said.

    He also urged motorists to be aware of the need to embark on daily routine check of their vehicles before entering the road.

    “Aside from the wipers, brakes, non-defective windscreen and functional lights, it is instructive to check radiators for water, defrosters and use coolant to keep the vehicle engine within normal range.

    On tyres, Agwu also urged road users to note that the higher a vehicle accelerates, the higher the temperature of the vehicle which directly affects the tyres. Hence the need for distance travellers to avoid over-inflated and under-inflated tyres. Tokumbo (fairly used) and worn-out tyres are potential catalysts for road crashes.

    He said as the FRSC intensifies its sustained safety awareness campaign towards a hitch-free ember season and yuletide, road users are strictly warned to avoid road vices such as overloading, under-age driving, drunk driving, speed limit violation, driving with mobile phone, non-use of seat belt and night trips in order to ensure sanity on the highways.

  • Night journeys, drug abuse major causes of accidents – FRSC

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Friday identified night journeys and drug abuse as major causes of road crashes in the country.

    The Deputy Corps Marshal, Operations, Mr. Boboye Opeyemi said this in Kaduna at the flag-off of a special patrol operation, code named “Operation Octopus.”

    According to him, most of the crashes occurred in the night, as such the 24-hour patrol is meant to reduce accidents on major roads in the country to the barest level.

    “Most drivers now are youths, and you find them taking different hard drugs and narcotics before embarking on their journey. This is another reason why we have high record of crashes.”

    Opeyemi said the FRSC was collaborating with the Army and the NDLEA to ensure the success of the operation, which would last throughout the ember month.

    According to him, they are also working hard to re-certify existing driving schools in the state to ensure efficiency.

    “We want to record zero fatality during this ember month, because the fatality rate have reduced by 66 per cent, and we are calling on all drivers to stop over speeding and the use of hard drugs so as to make it successful,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the FRSC official as saying at the forum.

    He advised motorists to drive carefully, avoid over speeding and respect traffic laws at all times to ensure safety on the roads.

    The deputy corps marshal commended the FRSC Command in Kaduna State for the introduction of routine patrols and banning the conveyance of passengers in the boots of vehicles.

     

  • Erio-Ekiti: Living under fear of truck accidents

    Erio-Ekiti: Living under fear of truck accidents

    The trucks are a part of everyday life but their operations have continued to threaten normal life in Erio-Ekiti and other parts of Ekiti State, writes Sulaiman Salawudeen

    Erio-Ekiti, about 30 kilometres from Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, has become a place where the fear of moving trucks is the beginning of wisdom for many residents of the town, particularly those whose habitations and businesses verge the main road.

    The residents of the town, which lies between Efon/Itawure and Aramoko, have been having months, even years of sleepless nights and restless days because of their encounters with trucks which daily send them either scampering off the frontages of their houses or force them into involuntary support exercises in rescue operations for victims of fresh accidents aided or caused by the trucks.

    Reportedly, no week passes without fresh tales of a truck which has fallen off its path, spilling its explosive contents, or another which has entered the gorge on either sides of the hilly highway with its massive bulk of luggage. On such occasions, the traveller would notice the officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) or the State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA) struggling to rescue lives and ensure the free flow of traffic.

    The accidents have been attributed to two problems: one is the apparently uncontrollable recalcitrance of the truck drivers who drive with impunity and some sort of condemnable abandon which often lands them in avoidable accidents, either with other trucks or cars and buses.

    Another concerns Erio which has a particular hilly portion on the federal single lane highway, just about a tenth of a kilometre in length at a bend sharp enough to force any unwary or unsuspecting driver into a jolting skid off the road and into a gorge deep down the sideways which is deep enough to contain about a 100 of such trucks.

    Although other categories of vehicles are not spared around the portion, the major victims have remained the trucks which makes it mandatory for their drivers to exhibit utmost caution and patience on the road, virtues which most of them lack.

    At the time of filing this report, no less than 10 of such ill-fated trucks are lying in mangled states at various spots around the bend almost adjacent to Edu High School, hampering the free flow of traffic and potentially aiding other accidents. One is lying on its back with the 16 tyres looking heavenwards; another is showing the rear wheels while the fore had gone into the bush.

    The worry, however, is not only the recalcitrance of the truck drivers, but the apparent distance of concerned authorities, specifically the Federal Government Agency, from a road which, despite and amidst the odds, has remained the choice for motorists coming into the state either from the Ilesa/Osun State axis or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) or going out of the state. The road’s main attraction, especially for the goods-laden trucks, is its offer of a shorter route to their destinations.

    Despite the situation painted, authorities seem to have kept a distance which makes the situation all the more painful, leaving the residents, travellers and other road users to lament a fate which has continued to claim lives and properties.

    Ade, a resident of the town, said: “The situation has become so bad that while trying to rescue one, another truck is falling. Factually, there cannot be less than three such encounters in a week. Come here any day, you must see a truck having some problems.”

    Recounting his experience, Adams, a driver whose truck met the unwanted fate, said the terrain was the main problem: “This road is not good. I was not speeding too much at all. I am always careful. But, today, the truck simply went the way it wanted to go. I applied the break, it did not stop.”

    While not opposing Adamu, another driver, Kole, who stopped by to make some adjustments, lamented: “The problem has always been the recklessness of our people (other drivers). We must be careful of the speed we maintain while on this road or even anywhere and anytime. Many times, the way our people drive is the cause of accidents.”

    A fruit/yam seller around the bend, Mrs. Odekunle Rhoda, who lamented the daily encounters with trucks, said some of the drivers (of the trucks) don’t speed too much when they are coming or going.

    For Mrs. Odekunle, who has a make-shift kiosk beside the road, the experience is an uneasy one as she has to be watchful to know if an oncoming truck is driving towards her or approaching the spot of her wares.

    She said: “I watch them (the trucks) every minute. Their sound is different from that of a smaller vehicle. Once it comes out like that from that bend, I keep watching the tyres to see if the thing is coming towards me. You cannot take your eyes off them at all. You must keep guard.

    “This is, however, not an easy task for me; but since I am not ready to leave this place, I have to endure and be watchful. Last year, a man called London, an Isobo person, who had stayed a long time in this town, and another man called Baba Seun died in a tanker inferno just after Edu High School here. The wife of the Isobo man is up there selling bean cakes,” she said.

    A resident, Alfaa Shuaib Sanusi, said it is impossible to stop the trucks from plying the road, as it belongs to every Nigerian. He added that it is only the Federal Government that must urgently finish the construction of another road — New Iyin Road — which is not far from the road in question.

    Sanusi said: “The Federal Government must be more serious about the New Iyin Road. Finishing that road remains the only way to stop the carnage and unrest which typify daily life here. Those trucks must pass through Aramoko to Ijero on their way to Abuja or Obajana in Kogi State. The only solution is for government to ensure that that road is completed.

    Another male resident who declined to mention his name made further clarifications: “The new road actually comes from Ado Ekiti at a place commonly referred to as New Iyin Road, passing through Igede and Aramoko, Erio, and ending somewhere at a place called Ita Ido. The contractor handling that road then was Elsan Nigeria Ltd owned by a man from Imesi Ekiti.

    “I cannot say if the road is single carriage or double but I am sure they have done all the earthwork. That road which although has not been tarred has, however, been inaugurated which is why they call it New Iyin Road,” he said.

    He added that Erio does not have the monopoly of vehicle-unfriendly spots, noting that “between Ado-Ekiti and Efon Alaaye-Ekiti, there are about 15 dangerous spots so accidents must occur due to the nature of the road which is narrow, winding with sharp bends; it also hilly with deep portions on either sides.”

    “At Akannasan sharp bend alone, about 25 trucks can sink into that hollow. Even cars and motorcycles are not spared. There was a chicken seller who normally moves about selling day-old chicks. One day, about four/five years ago, he lost control and fell into the Akannasan ditch. Three or four months later when the chickens developed, they came out and people started tracing their source before they saw the man’s decomposing body.

    “There are other dangerous spots. From Akannasan, you come to a Bamboo spot before Aramoko; Ajaye Junction between Igede and Aramoko; then Orisumbare junction where a truck wasted eight people recently. After that is the Ilaho sharp bend. Again, in Aramoko, Sabo Area is very deadly as well; Isasa sharp bend; Rajud Hotel bend; Bovas bend; Reservoir bend which is between Aramoko and Erio. All these bends are sharp and dangerous.

    “Also, AK Filling Station bend; then Obarabara bend before you come to the father of them all, Eriwe bend in Erio here. This is where at least three trucks must encounter one problem or the other weekly. After Eriwe is Temidire Junction which is adjacent to Edu High School.

    “Can you believe that sometimes when accidents occur at Eriwe bend, our people in the community would gather and create a link to the abandoned New Iyin Road which would then free the stranded motorists. We have completed that many times. So, when that new road is done, especially if it is a dual carriageway, only those vehicles which need to do something in Erio here like the passenger buses and cars would pass through here,” he said.

    Although Erio does not have a monarch, the Regent, Princess Adejoke Ojo-Ajetomobi, who spoke with The Nation, said: “Here in this town, we do not believe in any strange powers apart from God. Some people may say that portions of our road need to be appeased. It is a lie. It is government we will continue to appeal to for the remedy which is the completion of a new road close to us. I have been to the new road. The place is now very bushy.”

    Are the traditional rulers looking into the situation collectively? The Chairman, Ekiti State Traditional Council of Obas who is the monarch of Itaji-Ekiti, Oba Idowu Adamo Babalola, said the Council was considering making representations to the state government.

    According to him, “the situation has been a source of worry to the entire state, adding that it is not only in Erio but even in Ido-Ekiti, Oye Ekiti and other towns on the major roads where trucks have been making life unsafe for our people. It is sure if they dualise the roads we will have less of such harrowing experiences as we have now.

    “We will continue to appeal to concerned agencies of government to assist us. There is nowhere else we can go. They must make vehicular operations safe on the roads for our people to be safe,” Oba Adamo said.

    Making further clarifications, the Special Adviser on Roads in Ekiti, Hon. Adunmo Sunday, said the state government had been in talks with the Federal Government over the new road, noting that “ it is embarrassing that out of 16 such roads which belong to the Federal Government, the only one they are attending to (Erio) which is just about 39 kilometres long is a colonial road, with bends and hilly.

    “That road is worse than dangerous. Characterised by one day two accidents, it has become for the state a major headache. We are seriously appealing to the Federal Government on that road. That is the only road in Ekiti that they are doing out of 16,” Adunmo said.

    He added: “Today, Ekiti attends to other federal roads, including Ado-Iworoko, Ifaki-Ido, Aramoko-Ijero, Ado-Ikere up to Ondo boundary. Even, Basiri-Iyin road and Ojumoshe-Old Garage up to Ijigbo dual carriage way were all done by the state government.

    “The New Iyin Road which should have reduced the burden on the state has been abandoned by the Federal Government for decades. In respect of that road and some others, we have written a letter to the Federal Government, attaching the Bill of Engineering Measurements and Evaluation (BEME) and other necessary documents.

    “While talks are going on in respect of a total of N10.5 billion owed the state by the Federal Government on all the roads mentioned, it has been decided that early next year, if the Federal Government still fails to make desirable moves regarding the Erio road, the state will still take it over again”, the SA, Roads said.

    He however has a better prescription for resting what he described as “the age long issues over abandonment of roads by the Federal Government”. According to Adunmo, theFederal Government should hands off roads which lie within states and let states themselves attend to such.

    He said: “We have been saying it is most unnecessary and sheer dissipation of needless attention for the Federal Government to be constructing roads for states. Why? Why not make the funds available for the states to construct their own roads themselves? It is all part of the debates about fiscal federalism. Why must the Federal Government in Abuja be the one to pave roads for citizens across the 36 states and the FCT. This is a fundamental error and unless the Federsl Government hands of such things, infrastructure, especially roads will remain as it is.”

  • Identity crisis

    Identity crisis

    • President Jonathan’s call that a national citizens’ data base be pooled by 31 December 2014 is good, but …

    President Goodluck Jonathan spoke the minds of many Nigerians when he ordered all government agencies needing citizens’ data should hook on to the centralised data bank, which the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is building. He also gave a target of December 31, 2014, for the NIMC to complete the current registration exercise.

    The president did well by putting a halt to what appears some malady on the data gathering front. The situation in which the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria Population Commission (NPC), would embark on varied data gathering, some of them at the expense of the citizen, is undesirable and absolutely unacceptable.

    In one of those schemes, the FRSC even unilaterally cancelled binding legal agreements, by purportedly abrogating national drivers’ licences before their due date, for a new updated one, just like it did in the case of car registration plate numbers. In its own case, the Police also started – before it stopped – its own Biometric Central Motor Registration scheme. In both cases, citizens were burdened with undue expenses.

    Still, it is only fair to note that these multiple registrations, in search of data gathering, were caused by the absence of a national data base, in which biometrics of every citizen is captured. That absence was itself caused by the failure of previous attempts at national identity card projects, under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as military head of state, under President Shehu Shagari and under Obasanjo as civilian president. On these three occasions, the schemes failed, with billions of naira going down the drain.

    It is with such previous failures in mind that everything must be done to make the current exercise a success. On that score, NIMC is expected to capture all eligible citizens latest December 31, 2014. Perhaps the NIMC would have preferred an open-ended deadline, particularly given the fact that citizen registration is an open-ended event, taking in newly born citizens while the dead ones exit. Still, a deadline of one year and two months would appear fair, other things being equal.

    That is why the commission must ensure it makes a success of this current exercise. As the president said, multiple registration for data is not only expensive, it is inefficient. If indeed resources are scarce, that would appear a double jeopardy. It is better, cheaper and more productive, therefore, to invest in one fool-proof scheme, and build a pool from which other data-thirsting agencies could drink from.

    But if the present exercise must succeed, there must be more publicity and enlightenment. Indeed, NIMC should crank up its publicity blitz as if the exercise is closing in but a few months, enlightening citizens on how to register, where to register and possibly how long registration takes. That way, the target is likely to be achieved.

    The benefits of a central biometric data base are many. To start with, it would generate social security numbers imperative for planning and other social security schemes. It also acts as control to census exercises, which in these climes, have also been too controversial, therefore making planning a nightmare. With adequate citizen registration, it would be more difficult to manipulate census figure; and the Nigerian economy would be better for it.

    Nigeria must get the national identity card scheme right this time. It is the least the country can do if it ever wants to get its planning right.

  • Court refuses bid to stop issuance of new vehicle number plates, licences

    Court refuses bid to stop issuance of new vehicle number plates, licences

    The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday refused to restrain the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) from issuing the new vehicle number plates and driver’s licences.

    The court held that since FRSC has begun issuing them, restraining it at this point would be impossible because the law upon which the commission acted has not been repealed.

    Justice James Tsoho gave the ruling on a motion on notice filed by a lawyer Mr Tope Alabi, who sought to restrain FRSC from “selling” the new numbers and licensces.

    “A completed act cannot be restrained,” the judge ruled.

    The plaintiff had joined the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation in the suit, but the judge faulted the joining of the lawmakers in the action.

    He said by joining the National Assembly, the impression is created that it has direct role to play in the issuance of new numbers plate and driver’s licences.

    The judge said until the law on which the FRSC relied on, is repealed, the issue is declared null and void, it cannot be restrained from acting on it.

    “I am not certain it is appropriate to grant such orders when the law has neither been declared ultra-vires nor repealed. It appears like putting the cart before the horse,” the judge held.

    Alabi had prayed the court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants “from sale or further sale of number plates to registered vehicle owners with number plates” pending the hearing and determination of his substantive suit.

    He also sought to restrain them “from sale or further sale of driver licence to holders of valid yet-to-expire driver’s licenses.”

    Alibi said the National Assembly, which made the FRSC Act, No. 22, 2007, “has no power to legislate on the production and issuance of number plates and driver licences under Section 4 of the 2011 Constitution.”

    He claimed that the FRSC has no vires to issue plate numbers and driving licenses under the Constitution or Item 63 of the Exclusive Legislative List.

    In the substantive suit, the lawyer, among others, urged the court to determine whether the provisions of the FRSC Act empower it to produce and issue number plate and driver’s licenses.

    He sought a declaration that by virtue of Sections 4 and 5 of the 2011 Constitution, the production and issuance of number plate and driver’s licence is a residual matter within the exclusive legislative and executive competence of the states.

    Justice Tsoho adjourned till November 22 for hearing of the substantive suit.

  • FRSC returns accident victim’s money to bereaved family

    FRSC returns accident victim’s money to bereaved family

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Ore Unit in Ondo State, has returned a sum of N881,790 to the relatives of one Olabisi Ajayi, who lost his life in an auto crash that occurred along the Benin-Ore Expressway last Wednesday.

    Speaking while presenting the cash to the relations of the deceased yesterday in his office, the FRSC Unit Commander in Ore, Assistant Corps Commander Michael Arinzeagu, said the accident occurred at about 7.15pm on the fateful day.

    He explained that four people, all adult males, were involved in the auto crash which involved two cars and two motorcycles.

    He added that only Olabisi died, while the other three victims have been hospitalised.

    Arinzeagu expressed his condolence with the relatives of the late Olabisi, who was a 34-year-old graduate of Banking and Finance from the University of Benin.

     

  • FRSC returns accident victim’s money to bereaved family

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Ore Unit in Ondo State, has returned a sum of N881,790 to the relatives of one Olabisi Ajayi, who lost his life in an auto crash that occurred along the Benin-Ore Expressway last Wednesday.

    Speaking while presenting the cash to the relations of the deceased yesterday in his office, the FRSC Unit Commander in Ore, Assistant Corps Commander Michael Arinzeagu, said the accident occurred at about 7.15pm on the fateful day.

    He explained that four people, all adult males, were involved in the auto crash which involved two cars and two motorcycles.

    He added that only Olabisi died, while the other three victims have been hospitalised.

    Arinzeagu expressed his condolence with the relatives of the late Olabisi, who was a 34-year-old graduate of Banking and Finance from the University of Benin.

     

  • FRSC returns N.2m to families of accident victims

    The Fedderal Road Safety Corps, Ebonyi State Command has  handed over the sum of N215, 690 and other valuables it recovered at the scene of a ghastly motor accident in the state to the families of victims of  the fatal auto-crash.
    The accident occurred on September.14, 2013 in Ivo Local Government Area of the state at the Berger Junction along the Okigwe Afikpo Federal highway and involved a bulk Tanker and a Nissan Premiere car.
    Five  occupants of the car, two men and three women returning from a church convention, died on the spot while the tanker driver was handed over to the police for investigation.
    Mr Joseph Abuo, the Ivo Unit Commander of the Commission said that during the rescue of the victims, five GSM phones, a female handbag, a voice recorder and the money were recovered.
    “When we finished necessary talk with the Nigerian Police Ivo Division, the above mentioned items were handed over to the representatives of the victims’ families.
    “75% of road traffic accidents in the country are caused by human factors.That is why we advise road users to be very careful, obey traffic laws and remember that we are now approaching the yuletide period that is associated with rush.
    “Drivers in particular, should not engage in over speeding, wrongful overtaking, non-use of seat belts, drunk-driving etc.
    Representatives of the deceased families, Mr Sam Ede, thanked the FRSC command, police and neighbours for the recovered items and for returning them intact.
     “There are still good people in the country despite the views of people over the issue”

  • ‘Safe ember months our concern’

    The one-week sensitisation campaign jointly championed by Eko Lions Club (District 404 A-1 Nigeria) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), aimed at ensuring safe driving on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will be rounded off tomorrow.

    However, the FRSC Unit Commander,RS2,11, Isolo, Lagos, Abayomi Adegbesan, said the Corps’ motorised campaign that has been in place to prevent road accidents in the ember months continues.

    The club’s president, Demola Ogunbamowo, who said the outing was the club’s project for the month, led his colleagues in distributing various leaflets as Adegbesan was joined by his men during the exercise, which was held at strategic points on the ever-busy route.

    Some of the leaflets bore inscriptions including: “Don’t phone during driving;” “Don’t smoke and drive,” and “Fasten your seatbelts.”

    Donning their trademark event jackets, the Lions took time off to admonish drivers on the need to be cautions on the road, even as the road safety officials moderated driving speed on the road.

    Ogunbamowo said his club, being a humanitarian organisation, would never relent in its avowed commitment to complementing government’s efforts at giving Nigerians improved living on all fronts.

    “To us, it is a covenant; it is our religion to comfort our fellowmen to the best of our abilities. We won’t look back because our hands are already on the plough,” he said.