NAN-DS-5
Death
By Angela Atabo
Abuja,Dec.7,2016 (NAN) The House Committee on Road Safety on Wednesday expressed concern over the high death rate of the Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC) personnel in 2016.
Mr Abubakar Yunusa, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Road Safety, said this when he led a delegation of National Assembly on an oversight visit to FRSC in Abuja.
According to Yunusa, the situation is worrisome and said that measures should be put in place to address the challenge.
“The committee is disturbed by the high number of FRSC personnel that have died in 2016 already and we are working out ways to address this.
“We will partner with the corps to curb this trend and also ensure the procurement of equipment for the smooth operations of the FRSC activities.
“The National Assembly is also working out the enabling law to further empower FRSC to work effectively,’’he said
Yunusa said that the aim of the oversight function was to enable the committee to access the activities of the FRSC in terms of budget implementation under the fiscal year.
He urged the corps not to see the visit as an act of witch-hunt but a way of understanding its challenges achievements and to chart a way forward for enhancing the FRSC operations.
Earlier, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, announced that 70 operatives of the commission were killed by reckless drivers this year while on duty .
Oyeyemi said the trend was disturbing and needed to be addressed.
He said the FRSC had declared war on reckless drivers because such drivers were responsible for about 40 per cent of deaths of officials of the FRSC in the line of duty.
He said the FRSC had a lot to do on the highways to curb accidents and this risked the lives of its personnel.
He, however, called for more funding of the commission to enable it carry out its salutatory duty effectively to save lives and property.
The corps marshal said that the corps had 204 Unit Commands, 12 zonal commands and 37 sector commands across the country to respond promptly to emergency calls.(NAN)
ATAB/AMY/AMY
Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf