Nigeria clamps down on rickety vehicles on its roads

Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has commenced an immediate clampdown on rickety vehicles plying the country’s roads.

“The clampdown is an integral part of rejigged efforts of the Corps in the year 2021 to further reduce road traffic crashes across the country,” FRSC spokesman Bisi Kazeem said in a statement.

Kazeem said the FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi gave the directive on Tuesday as part of the efforts to reduce road traffic crashes across the country by  15 percent and fatalities by 20 percent.

He also stated that the operation which will be conducted nationwide forms part of the Corps’ commitment towards enhancing the tempo of its operational activities and create a safer motoring environment in the country in view of inherent traffic hazards associated with abandoned broken down vehicles especially at night.

Kazeem highlighted the health, safety, and economic benefits of regular vehicle maintenance, noting that if drivers and vehicle owners will adhere to the constant maintenance of their vehicles, the safety of lives and properties will be enhanced and the statutory role of the Corps summarised in making them over 204,000 km road network in Nigeria safe for all users.

He also emphasised that severe punishment awaits anyone apprehended using such vehicles, including impoundment of the vehicle, payment of fines and compulsory road safety education.