FRSC loses 204 personnel to hit-and-run drivers

The Federal Road Safety Corps has lost 204 personnel to hit-and-run drivers in the course of duty within two years.

The corps lost 116 officers in 2014 while 88 others were killed by errant vehicle drivers in 2015, according to the Corps Marshall, Boboye Oyeyemi.

The Corps Marshall who disclosed this at a press briefing on the “Ember months operations” on Wednesday in Abuja, explained that the deaths of the corps personnel highlighted the sacrifices of the agency in ensuring that road fatality is reduced to the barest minimum in the country.

Oyeyemi stated that the corps had been able to reduce road crashes by about 39 per cent and fatality by 21 per cent at the background of the 2014/2015 operations outcome.

Also, speed-related crashes, which he said stood at about 45 per cent of all causal factors were reduced by about 25 per cent within the same period.

The FRSC boss expressed the corps’ commitment to ensuring safety of travellers during the Yuletide.

He challenged security agencies to be vigilant “because in the cause of mass movement are also clandestine attempts to subvert the common cherished peace of the state.”

Oyeyemi said, “Let me warn would-be deviants that the Corps will not tolerate anything short of conformity to road traffic regulations because it is through this that each person can drive to save a life and make the nation enjoyable and fulfilling for all.

“Those with negative mind-set should be ready to interface with the numerous Mobile Courts that will be in place along all Corridors.  They can be sure that justice will sort them out; we have made sacrifices to ensure safety on the highways; in 2015, we lost 88 personnel which when compared to 2014 is an improvement because we lost 116 officers in 2014.”

Oyeyemi explained that this year’s special patrol tagged ‘Operation Zero Tolerance,’ with the theme  ‘Drive Safely into 2016’ was started in Onitsha by Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, adding that 36, 000 personnel had been deployed to ensure safety on the highways.

He further said that the corps is collaborating with the Nigeria Air Force for aerial traffic surveillance which would take off on Thursday at the Domestic Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.