The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Psychiatric test

  • FRSC: driving against traffic on Lagos-Ibadan highway to attract psychiatric test

    THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said any motorists caught creating additional lanes and or driving against traffic on the Lagos-lbadan Expressway will be booked for a psychiatric check.

    FRSC Lagos State Sector Commander Mr. Hyginus Omeje, who stated this at the weekend in Lagos, said erring motorists would also have their vehicles impounded.

    According to Omeje, one of the causes of the constant gridlock on the road is impatience and lane abuse by most road users.

    He said: “A good assessment of the road, which I have done severally, revealed that there is nothing wrong with the road. But everything is wrong with the users, who constitute a law unto themselves and willfully break all known laws of transportation.

    “Although, the road is undergoing rehabilitation and expansion, which has gotten to Magboro by MFM Church and at that point, lbadan bound traffic was diverted to share the lane with inward Lagos traffic.

    “The narrowing of the carriageway at the diversion point caused serious gridlock last week.

    “The problem is always compounded anytime motorists create additional lanes or drive against traffic, leading to crashes.

    “We are not interested in arrest, but to get the road free of gridlock. However, many motorists are creating a problem for us by creating additional lanes or driving against traffic, especially anytime there’s a breakdown.

    “We will soon start to book erring road users, who are compounding problems on that corridor,” Omeje said.

    The FRSC chief noted that impatience had caused so much chaos and harrowing experience for motorists on the corridor.

    He urged motorists to always maintain their lanes, saying that lane discipline and obedience to traffic law is required by all road users to ensure a free flow of traffic.

    Omeje said the construction companies from OPIC had put signage from 50 kilometres, 80 kilometres, and 100 kilometres per hour speed limit.

    “No spirit, no demon is causing anything on that road, but the attitude of the road users, which is underscored by impatience and lawlessness.

    “Our men are ready to enforce the law and to curb the excesses of people creating additional lanes and driving against traffic.”

    The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is 127.6-kilometre long (79.3 miles) connecting lbadan to Lagos and also a major route to the Eastern, Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria.

    The expressway is the oldest in Nigeria and was commissioned in August 1978.

    It is also the busiest interstate route in Nigeria and handles more than 250,000 vehicles daily and constitutes one of the largest road networks in Africa.

  • Man who climbs Mast in Yola undergoing psychiatric test– Police

    The Adamawa Police Command said on Thursday that the 25-year-old man, Lawan Faro, who climbed a 40 metres high Mast in Yola, is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

    Faro mounted the mast on Wednesday to protest current hardship in the country and vowing to commit suicide.

    “He has been taken to a hospital for psychiatric test to be carried on him in order to verify his mental status,”  the Command spokesman, Othman Abubakar, said in Yola.

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    The man was persuaded by security operatives to climb down at about 8pm on Wednesday after hanging atop the mast for about eight hours.

    Some of the onlookers had however accused Faro of being lazy, saying serious minded youths in the state are already set to reap from their investments on farming.

    “We are celebrating bumper harvest in Adamawa not hardship; he is just playing politics or one of those lazy youths hoping to make quick money from politicians,” said Ibrahim Musa, a farmer.

    He said such risky behaviour should not be encouraged.(NAN)

  • LASTMA refers 10 motorists for psychiatric test over misconducts

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has referred 10 traffic offenders to a psychiatric hospital for mental assessment in the last two years.

    LASTMA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chris Olakpe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the agency still carried out full mental assessment on erring motorists in the metropolis.

    He said since assuming office as chief executive officer in 2016, 10 drivers have been taken for mental evaluation.

    “The mental assessment on drivers is still ongoing particularly for drunk driving.

    “We  also referred those who drive against the traffic which we call- one way”.

    “Those drivers are materials for psycho- emotional examination. We also administer a preliminary breath alcohol test using the se breathalysers on drunk drivers.

    “When we use the breathalyser, we are able to determine those who require psycho-emotional examination and we will be able to take them away for abuse of psycho tropic and barbiturates.

    Olakpe said with the introduction of new commercial buses in the metropolis by the Lagos State government, traffic flow would improve as use of personal vehicles would decrease.

    “We are trying to create a new culture whereby you drop your car and take a ride in an air conditioned bus with all facilities,” he said.

  • Attempted suicide: Court orders psychiatric test for textile trader

    Attempted suicide: Court orders psychiatric test for textile trader

    An Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court yesterday ordered a textile trader, Mrs Titilayo Momoh, to undergo psychiatric test after pleading not guilty to attempted suicide.
    Momoh, 51, was arraigned by the D4 Section of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID), at Panti, Yaba, before Chief Magistrate T. A. Elias.
    The charge reads: “That you Titilayo Momoh on March 24 at about 10am at Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos did attempt to commit suicide by jumping into the river and thereby committed an offence under Section 235 Cap C17, Volume 3 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
    The defendant pleaded not guilty.
    Prosecuting Sergeant Kehinde Omisakin did not object to the oral bail application of her defence counsel, Beauty Otigi.
    Chief Magistrate Elias granted the defendant N500,000 bail, with two sureties in the like sum. The sureties must show evidence of tax payment.
    Last March 24, Momoh, a Lagos Island fabrics dealer was rescued from jumping into the Lagoon by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
    According to Lagos State Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, Momoh was in a taxi driving towards Oworonshoki when she asked the driver to stop on the bridge.
    She was about to jump into the lagoon when a police patrol team saw her and stopped her from taking her life.
    He said: “She attempted suicide by attempting to jump into the lagoon around Oworonshoki inward Mainland on Third Mainland Bridge. Unfortunately for her, she was rescued.
    “The police patrol team sighted her and rushed to rescue her before she jumped into the Lagoon.”

  • FRSC mulls psychiatric test for motorists in Anambra

    FRSC mulls psychiatric test for motorists in Anambra

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has threatened to make psychiatric tests compulsory for motorists violating the rule on one-lane traffic in Anambra.

    The Sector Commander of the Commission in the state, Mr. Sunday Ajayi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday, in Awka.

    He said that the traffic violators would soon start going for psychiatric tests if the existing penalties failed to serve as a deterrent.

    “We have equally identified especially in Awka that one-way or counter-flow or road violation, whichever way you understand it is on the increase and because of that we have quickly engaged in robust enforcement to stop it.

    “Anybody driving against traffic seems to have something wrong with him.

    “So, we want to say that anybody caught in this act will not be spared because we don’t want to be carrying corpses and injured people on our roads.

    “If the enforcement that we have put in place will not make effect, then we begin to introduce the issue of psychiatric check on drivers that are found committing this infraction.”

    Ajayi also urged motorists to install the speed-limit device which has been introduced to check excessive speeding and curtail the spate of crashes.

    The commander said that the April 1 deadline for motorists to install the devices in their vehicles remained sacrosanct while warning that enforcement would be total.

    “Having realised that most of the crashes or more than 60 per cent of the crashes that occur on our roads is caused by over speeding, then the decision of the federal government to introduce Speed Limiter is a good one and we have already commenced advisory enforcement on it.

    “By first of April 2016 the real enforcement will come, so we are using this opportunity again to remind the general motoring public, especially the fleet operators to get a vendor and begin to install speed limiter in their vehicles.”