The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday formally launched its 2018 Easter Special Patrol operation with rallies at motor parks and other public places across the country.
In the Federal Capital Territory, the exercise held at the SDP Motor Park in Gwagwalada, where the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, read the riot act to motorists.
Oyeyemi, who was represented by the Corps Public Education Officer, Mr Bisi Kazeem, said the Corps would leave nothing to chance in making the nation’s highways safer during the Easter holiday and beyond.
We will do what is known as strict enforcement of (traffic) laws and regulations. This means that we will catch more people than before because we have realized in FRSC that enlightenment and education without enforcement is entertainment.
So, we will make sure that if you are not listening to us, we will book you, either for you to go and pay your fines or we prosecute you.
Our focus will be on failure to fix speed limiting device; overloading violation; lane indiscipline, some of us call it `one way’ or facing oncoming traffic; use of phone while driving; driving with expired and worn-out tyres, or without spare tyres at all. We will be having over 200 mobile courts on our highways.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seven-day special patrol operation tagged, “Safe Journey to Easter’’ runs from March 28 to April 3 nationwide.
Oyeyemi outlined other elements of the exercise to include effective traffic management, high visibility of FRSC marshals on the road, prompt response to accidents and removal of obstructions.
He appealed to his audience, made up of mainly transport union members and leaders, to cooperate with FRSC marshals on the highways for safer roads during the Easter period.
One of the transport union leaders, Mr Samuel Olanrewaju, lauded the FRSC for organizing the rally and pledged the cooperation of his members with the Corps for a successful operation. Olanrewaju, however, appealed to FRSC marshals to be civil in undertaking the special patrol operation with focus on safety as against punishment of offenders or revenue generation.
I want to say that if they (FRSC marshals) make us to be closer to them as friends, not that they will not correct us when we are wrong, but they will correct us in love, it will help us so much.
“To my other colleagues as drivers, it is a welcome development. We will work on it, and try to maintain the speed that is approved so that we can arrive safely.
This is because it is when you drive safely that you will arrive safely.’’
