AS PART of activities lined up to improve vehicular movement and to mitigate against crashes during the Eid-El-Kabir celebration, Boboye Oyeyemi, the corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has approved the deployment of 33,000 personnel, both regular and special marshals all over the country.

According to Bisi Kazeem, the Corps public education officer, the operation will focus on traffic control, excessive speeding, dangerous driving/overtaking, clearance of road obstructions, seatbelt use violation, zero tolerance for use of phone while driving, lane indiscipline and route violation among others as these have been identified as reoccurring factors of RTCs.

In a press statement released by Kazeem, the FRSC spokesman stated that the 2017 Eid-El-Kabir Sallah Special patrol operation would start its work from August 31, to September 6, 2017. He said that personnel involved had been adequately briefed to perform their duties which include public enlightenment, traffic calming, traffic control, enforcement and rescue services. For ease of operation and prompt rescue services, 859 patrol vans, 106 ambulances, 267 motorbikes and 22 tow-trucks have been deployed to cover critical routes and crash prone areas.

According to Kazeem, Oyeyemi wishes to remind Nigerians that the holiday is for celebration with family members and loved ones especially for the Muslim faithful. Thus, he advised motorists to bear in mind the need to adhere to stipulated traffic rules and regulations to and fro their travel destinations as more than 200 mobile courts would be on hand to prosecute erring offenders.

Kazeem further urged the motoring public to practice safe road use culture and give their maximum cooperation to FRSC personnel for the desired success. He also called on the general public to notify the FRSC in the event of an emergency through its emergency line 0700-CALL-FRSC (0700-22553772) or toll free number 122 for prompt response.

“The corps marshal wishes Nigerians happy Eid-El-Kabir celebration and assured them that personnel will be on ground 24hours, while road side clinics and ambulance points across the country will be open to emergencies. He also thanked all military and paramilitary agencies for their sustained support as they have equally been placed on standby for effective collaboration,” Kazeem’s statement said.

– Aug 29, 2017 @ 13:08 GMT