Moses Akaigwe
As part of measures to reduce crashes involving school children across the country, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has ordered the field operatives to clamp down on overloaded private school vehicles seen plying the roads
The spokesman of the Corps, Bisi Kazeem who made this known stated that the Corps Marshal has directed Sector Commanders across the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory to impound at sight, any private school bus carrying more than the required number of school children in the bus.
This operation will be carried out in the morning and afternoon when schools close for the day.
According to Kazeem, the clampdown has become very necessary going by the deliberate efforts made by school proprietors, their management and the bus drivers to make mockery of established laws possibly to achieve some economic gains, at the detriment of the lives of the school children conveyed to and fro school by those busses.
“ We have tried to enlighten these drivers and the proprietors on many occasions to make them comply with the minimum safety standards on passengers carriage but they kept contravening the laws. The Corps is championing child safety campaign as it targets to reduce and possibly eradicate all crashes involving school children on our roads”.
In the same vein, the Corps Marshal has directed re-training of all drivers of this category nationwide to further concretise the anticipated total safety of school children.
To help the corps achieve success in this campaign, the public is encouraged to always tune in to the National Traffic Radio 107.1FM to report any of such buses seen with overloaded school children or any obstruction or emergency noticed on the road for immediate action.
The station can also be reached through its social media handles as follows: Whatsapp 08052997848; Facebook Trafficradio 1; Twitter @tarfficradio 1; and Instagram Trafficradio 1. There are also call numbers: 08052998090, 09067000015, SMS number 08052998012, as well as FRSC toll free emergency line 122.