Leadership (Abuja)
Vincent Ekhoragbon
7 September 2008
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has identified lack of fire-arms by its officials as a hindrance to efficient operations.
The Sector Commander in Gombe State, Fidelis Chuka Osakwe, who disclosed this in Gombe, said Road Safety officials sometimes found themselves "In a fix as the non-possession of arms impede our efforts to enforce road use rules and regulations."
"At such times, we rely on our minds and IQ. Now, how do you expect one or two men to confront over 17 people, and we don't have arms?" he queried.
The Road Safety boss, who was briefing the press on two ghastly motor accidents that claimed 14 lives and left seven terribly wounded in the early hours of Wednesday, August 3rd went on:
"At about 4:45am an overloaded nine passenger Toyota mini-bus (AG644GME), suspected to be over-speeding, lost control in a bend and veered-off the road near Ubayo village in Borno State close to Gombe border killing 13 and leaving one seriously wounded.
"Same day, a heavy duty trailer with registration No XA521GWW owing to failed brakes crashed to a stop near Government House junction leaving the driver dead and six others severely wounded".
Osakwe, who identified overloading above other factors as the frequent cause of road mishaps, said the FRSC was hungry for owing to legal backing of the proposal jerking the fines for overloading from the present N2,000 to N10,000 believing that such amount was enough to serve as deterrent to possible offenders.
He called on stakeholders to wake up and rise to challenge the fight against the menace of overloading saying the battle would be more effective if passengers resisted drivers' attempt to overload vehicles.
On the responsibility of rescue operations outside their territories that normally rest on their shoulders due to proximity, the Gombe State Sector Commander called on local and international donor agencies, government and public spirited individuals to help out with logistics.
On the use of crash helmets, he said motorcyclists had up to 1st of January, 2009 to comply without which they would be liable for prosecution with the option of N2,000 fine or a jail term.
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