YULETIDE IN THE SOUTH EAST: FRSC BRIAN STORM ON SAFER ROADS
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it has stepped up enforcement of road safety ideals and put in place interventions to secure crash prone road sections under RS9 in the South East Zone.
The FRSC Zonal Commanding Officer, Mr. Samuel Obayemi, stated this at its 2018 bi-annual zonal retreat held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Mr. Obayemi explained that the event was aimed at taking stock of performances of the state commands and brainstorming on how to make roads in the area safer ahead of festive period.
He attributed the spate of crashes in the zone to poor state of roads, poor vehicle maintenance culture and poor orientation of Nigerian road users and urged stakeholders to come up with effective solutions to the problems.
The Zonal Commander said “more urgent challenge is the monumental increase in the volume of traffic as festive period approaches. Preparedness entails purchase of operational vehicles to cover more roads and other enforcement tools.”
Ebonyi State Sector Commander, Mrs. Stella Uchegbu, noted that one of the strategic goals of the Corps this year was to reduce road traffic crashes by 15 percent and fatalities by 30 percent.
“Flowing from this, we decided various strategy towards achieving this goal, one of which is to embark on robust public enlightenment in parks, schools and churches, so that preventively we can reduce road crashes, “Mrs. Uchegbu stated.
Ebonyi State Governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Hyginus Nwokwu, pointed out that his administration was committed to developing both Federal and State roads to make vehicular movement easier.
“The state government has as a policy zero tolerance to pot holes and that is why we have embarked on the rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Enugu road, ” the Governor stated.
The theme of the event was “Integrated Strategy for Road Safety Implementation in RS9 zone.”
Among those who attended the event were State Sector Commanders from Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo states under RS9 zone in the South East .
AMECHI ODO