The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FRSC

  • Benue inaugurates 42 buses

    Benue inaugurates 42 buses

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has inaugurated 42 buses to boost the state-owned transport company, Benue Links Nig Limited.

    The General Manager of the firm, Mr. John Baka, an engineer, put the cost of the buses at N200 million, with a loan from Infrastructure Bank and guarantee  by Diamond Bank.

    Baka also appealed to the state government to asphalt the company’s terminus, which is said to have been taken over by flood.

    The GM further requested that the Suswam administration help the transport firm to acquire Marcopolo buses to enable it extend its services beyond the state.

    The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Hon. Benjamin Ashaver also urged the management of the company to guard against misusing the buses, directing that all drivers in the employ of the firm must be well trained.

    Hon. Ashaver advised the police and personnel of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) not to hesitate to impound any vehicle and arrest the driver who runs foul of the law. This, many belive, will instill discipline in operators of the buses.

    Suswam  hailed the purchase of the buses, saying they would boost commuting in several areas of the state, including, especially, the rural areas.

    The governor also called on the management of the firm to ensure that the buses are properly deployed to cover all those rural roads.

    Suswam equally urged managers of the state transport company to charge affordable rates in order not to rob the masses of the facility.

    The governor made the point that the buses should help the poor to commute better, not worsen their challenges.

    Suswam was in good company when he inaugurated the buses. As he cut the tape to unveil the vehicles, GM Baka offered assistance.

    Commissioner Ashaver was equally on hand, as were officials of the FRSC.

  • Flood : FRSC closes Lokoja-Abuja highway

    Flood : FRSC closes Lokoja-Abuja highway

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Sunday announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway to ensure the safety of road users.

    Mr Mohammed Garuba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, said that the decision to close the highway was to ensure the safety of lives.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highway had since last week been flooded because of the rise in water level from River Niger.

    He said that the commission arrived at the decision following the continued rise in the water level at the Banda Village, two kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi capital, adding that the movement of vehicles on the road had become “completely impossible”.

    According to him, FRSC officials and some youths who had been guiding vehicles through the water for the past three days had been overstressed and could no longer cope with the situation.

    He said that the road would remain closed until the commission could guarantee safe vehicular movement.

    Meanwhile, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who had been carrying out rescue operations in Idah and Ibaji local governmentstold NAN that the situation in the area was deteriorating.

    One of the officials , Mr Ishaya choloko, who spoke to NAN on telephone from Idah said: “although some trapped victims had been rescued, so many people are still taking refuge on top of trees’’.

    He said that the three boats being deployed for rescue operations by National Inland Water Authority (NIWA) were inadequate, adding that the agency had been contacted to release more boats and equipment to hasten the evacuation of victims.

    He said that all the rescued victims had been camped at primary schools in Idah and gave an assurance that NEMA was making efforts to rescue the remaining victims latest by Monday morning.

    He explained that no casualty had been recorded so far.

    Meanwhile, Gov Idris Wada has visited Idah and Ibaji to assess the extent of damage and to commiserate with the victims of the flood disaster.

    He promised that the government would assist them to resume their normal lives. (NAN)

  • 50 die in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara in two months, says FRSC

    50 die in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara in two months, says FRSC

    No fewer than fifty persons died in road accidents across Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States highways in the last two months.
    The Corps Marshal of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Osita Chidoka, disclosed this at the weekend during the opening of the 2012 sectoral workshop for Special Marshals in Sokoto.
    According to him: ‘’No other disease is killing people in the country like road traffic accidents and this is a source of concern for all the stakeholders.”
    Chidoka, who was represented by the Sokoto zonal commanding officer, Mr. Alfred Adeboye, explained that fifteen of the victims died during the last Sallah celebrations in Zamfara and Kebbi States.
    He lamented that the zone came third nationwide in the ranking of accidents during the period under review.
    The Secretary to the Sokoto State Government, Alhaji Sahabi Gada, said the administration has prioritised roads construction and rehabilitation to ensure free flow of traffic.
    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alhaji Bello Gwiwa, urged Nigerians to regard the business of roads safety as a collective national duty.