…FRSC deploys 3,115 personnel, 68 vehicles in FCT, over Ember months***
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has recorded 978 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) and 223 deaths between January and September in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Sector Commander, FCT, Mr Oga Ochi, disclosed this during the inauguration of the 2022 Ember Months campaign on Thursday in Abuja, adding that 1,753 injuries were recorded within the period.
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Ochi attributed the accidents largely to speed limit violations.
He said that ember months, which referred to the last four months of the year, were usually characterised by higher vehicular movements which often resulted to high RTCs and fatalities.
Ochi said that human factor, which included speeding, overloading, use of unsafe tyres, and reckless and dangerous driving among others, was responsible for more than 75 per cent of traffic crashes.
“Records obtained within the FCT reveal that between Jan.1 to Sept. 30, 2022, a total of 978 RTCs occurred resulting to 223 deaths and 1,753 injuries with speed limit violations as the highest causative factor.
“This record, even though slightly lower when compared to Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, which had 987 RTCs, 159 deaths and 1,872 injuries, the trend still shows that RTCs and injuries is a major concern,‘’ he said.
Ochi urged stakeholders in the transport system to support the efforts of the Corps and other relevant agencies towards ensuring safety on the highway during ember months and beyond.
in his message, the Acting Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dauda Biu said that the ember months campaign was for stakeholders to sensitise their members on road safety culture.
Biu, who was represented by the Deputy Corps Marshal, DCM Kayode Falola said that there were more crashes even where there were good roads.
“Bad roads is not a factor for road crashes, even where we have good roads, crashes still occur.
“We need a high level of discipline to make use of the roads. Law enforcement will not solve the problem alone, everyone needs to be engaged for us to achieve a crash-free society,’’ he said.
The FCT Minister, Muhammed Bello, represented by the Secretary, Transportation Secretariat of the FCT Administration, Mr Abdullahi Candido, expressed their commitment towards addressing road crashes in the territory.
He said that there was usually an increase in vehicular movements during the ember months, hence it was important to sensitise the public.
He urged the stakeholders to take advantage to ensure that drivers were sensitised and vehicles were in order before being put on the road.
Mr Yusuf Alabi of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), appealed to the government to construct good roads nationwide to enable drivers to avoid night trips and reduce crashes.
“We are law-abiding citizens, what we need are good roads for a smooth journey; going to Lagos from Abuja could take more than 24 hours now due to bad roads,” he said.
The event was attended by representatives of the Civil Defence Corps, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Police, and the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, among others.
Highlight of the events was the presentation of plays by the Road Safety Club of National Youths Service Corps and NDLEA respectively.
In another development, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has deployed a total of 3,115 personnel and 68 patrol vehicles among other logistics as part of a strategy towards achieving safety during the ’ember’ months, in the FCT.
The Sector Commander, FCT, Mr Oga Ochi said this during the flag–off ceremony of the 2022 Ember Months Campaign on Thursday in Abuja.
Ochi said that 16 ambulances, four heavy and light duty tow trucks and eight power bikes would be deployed to cover all the area councils and highways leading in and out of the FCT.
He said that FRSC embarked on public sensitisation, stakeholder engagements and robust enforcement particularly during ember months to ensure that the high rate of Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) was reduced drastically.
“The herculean challenge occasioned by the increasing rate of RTCs, lack of obedience to road traffic regulations, impatience on the part of road users, and relative lack of knowledge of road code among others required collective efforts.
“The tasks of reversing the trend as contained in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 -2030 required that all hands must be on deck.
“This is to ensure proper and adequate dissemination of road safety messages to every road user,” Ochi said.
He urged road users to take advantage of the conducive environment created by the FCT minister, Muhammed Bello to maximise service delivery to road users in the FCT.
“We have concluded plans to respond to all emergencies that may occur during this period in order to reduce cases of deaths resulting from road-related mishaps.
“This deployment of logistics will last from now till January 2023 for proper attention to road safety these ember months,“ Ochi said.
Earlier, the Zonal Commanding Officer (ZCO) in charge of FCT and Niger State, Assistant Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed said that motorists must avoid speeding at all costs to curtail crashes.
Mohammed who was represented by the Deputy Corps Commander, Ms Barbara Ekpekpe said that speeding and overloading have remained major factors causing incessant road crashes in the territory.
He urged road users to comply with road safety rules and regulations to avoid crashes resulting in the loss of lives and properties.
The year 2022 ember months’ campaign theme is ‘avoid speeding, overloading and unsafe tyres to arrive alive’.
