Fred Itua, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory FCT Administration (FCTA) has barred officials of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) and vehicle inspection officials from stopping and searching particulars of vehicle owners before 10am  as part of measures to ease daily vehicular traffic in the FCT during peak hours.

Chairman, FCT Ministerial Taskteam on Traffic Management, Mr. Ikharo Attah, who announced this in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, explained that the decision was borne out of complaints from residents that the checking of vehicles by agencies from 9am was responsible for the build up of traffic in the FCT and the loss of man hours by private and civil servants.

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“By this, the road traffic officers of various agencies must focus on freeing traffic from 5am to 10am. The enforcement does not affect the  stopping and arrest of heavy duty vehicles driving during peak traffic periods.  Any such vehicle must be stopped from plying the road in accordance with approved policy to avert fatal road crashes occasioned by break failures usually associated with such heavy duty vehicles. They are to commence checking of vehicles and their particulars from 10am across the city,” Attah said.

The new directive is coming amidst the administration’s stance that there was no going back on its earlier decision to restrict the movement of heavy duty vehicles in the territory to off-peak periods. The FCTA said it would apply severe sanctions on those who breach the policy.

Prior to the new policy, the FCT Administration had ordered that vehicle inspection should commence from 9am, but following series of meetings with stakeholders, an additional hour was added so as to avoid clogging the roads during the early morning rush hour.