Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has vowed not to allow Very Important Personalities (VIPs) and uniform men involved in route violation in Abia State to go unsanctioned.
State Commander of FRSC in charge of Abia, Mr Paul Ugwu, who disclosed this in an interview with our Correspondent, said that henceforth, any VIP or uniform person “driving against traffic in the state will be disciplined.
“If we get any VIP driving against traffic, we won’t be confrontational but will simply pick the plate number and forward to our headquarters in Abuja which shall in turn, forward same to the appropriate authorities for sanctions.”
Ugwu who spoke on the preparations by the Corps to minimize road crashes in the state during the ’ember’ months, identified route violation and over speeding as major causes of road accidents.
He appealed to road users to avoid over-speeding and driving against traffic as his men will deal with anyone involved in such violations.
The FRSC boss who gave the theme of this year’s campaign as, “Avoid Speeding, Overloading and Unsafe Tyres to Arrive Alive,” identified the use of expired or ‘Tokumbo’ (fairly used) tyres as dangerous.
He said that the Corps had commenced aggressive campaigns and sensitisation of the motoring public on the dangers of over-speeding, overloading and use of expired tyres.
Ugwu urged passengers to dial ‘122’ on their mobile phones to lodge complaint about any over-speeding drivers for prompt arrest by the closest patrol team of the Corps.
He also said that FRSC would deploy the new patrol vehicles it received from Abuja to increase the Corps’ visibility on the major roads and corridors in the state particularly the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and the Umuahia Ohafia-Arochukwu Road.
Ugwu warned that traffic offenders during the campaign which would end by the first week of January 2023, might be tried at mobile courts.
The FRSC boss further said that the Corps would deploy ambulances as well as the new patrol vehicles to enhance its rescue operations in the eventuality of emergencies.
He commended the Abia State Government for the newly-inaugurated flyover at Osisioma which he noted, had significantly reduced traffic congestion at the critical junction, and pleaded with the extension of similar gesture to Ubakala and Abia Tower Express junctions in Umuahia.
Ugwu explained that contrary to the misunderstanding in some quarters, the Act setting up FRSC empowered its personnel to operate in all public roads whether or not they are federal roads.
