By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has disclosed that during the second quarter of the year covering April to June 2023, it apprehended 8,592 traffic offenders for committing 179,165 offences.
This is contained in a statement by the Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO), Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Bisi Kazeem, in Abuja on Monday.
Mr Kazeem said that the arrests made during the second quarter of the year were pursuant to the corps’ commitment to making the highways safe.
He said that 64,544 drivers were educated with 5,431 motor park rallies conducted, saying that the Corps organised 1,950 community visits to consolidate existing enlightenment campaigns in the same period.
“In addition, 210,404 Road Traffic Offenders (RTOs) were stopped while 45,335 were cautioned against all manner of non-compliance with traffic regulations.
“In the same period, the corps intensified its enlightenment and sensitisation campaigns by conducting 286 television and 2,431 radio programmes to reach the mass population of the motoring public,” he said.
Mr Kazeem said the FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr Dauda Biu, reacted to the data and called on the motoring public to always heed established traffic regulations and avoid behaviours that could trigger crashes on the roads.
In a related development, FRSC plans to establish two more Area Commands in Abia, according to the state’s Sector Commander, Mr Paul Ugwu.
Speaking recently in Umuahia during his visit to the Secretary to Abia State government, Mr Kenneth Kalu, he said the Area Commands, when established the commands, would help quicken responses in road accidents.
The Sector Commander described his organization as a relevant body saddled with the responsibility of ensuring road orderliness as well as reducing the rate of accidents on Nigerian roads.
He said the FRSC would always ensure that drivers adhered to road safety measures, which will protect the lives of road users.
Mr Ugwu called for the construction of a pedestrian bridge at the Ubakala junction point of the Aba-Umuahia -Enugu federal highway to safeguard pedestrians crossing the busy expressway.
He appealed to the state government to include the FRSC in the State’s security council and provide his Command with operational vehicles to enhance their activities across the state.