From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi.
Corps Marshal of the Nigerian Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi has disclosed that the Corps lost nine of their officers to road crashes in the last six months.
Oyeyemi who stated this during the flag off of the Ember months campaign held at the NURTW Motor Park, North Bank, Makurdi Benue State capital yesterday maintained that over 50 percent of road crashes that occurred in the country in the last six months were caused by over-speeding.
Represented by Assistant Corps Marshal Julius Asom, the FRSC Boss while lamenting that Benue ranked sixth out of the 36 states of the federation in terms of road crashes in the last six months revealed further that 123 road crashes were recorded within Benue state alone within that period.
While explaining that the campaign became necessary as the volume of traffic during the Sallah and Ember months were usually high, Oyeyemi
therefore stressed the need for motorists to adhere strictly to highway safety rules to avoid unnecessary road crashes during the forthcoming Sallah celebration and the Yuletide.
Oyeyemi maintained that the FRSC want to strictly obey the WHO standard of arriving crash site within 15 minutes of crash and appealed to all stakeholders to support the Corps realise this goal.
Earlier in a remark, Sector Commander, FRSC in charge of Benue, Chidiebere Nkwonta the campaign was to further educate motorists about the tire campaign, the speed limiting device and the need to drive safely during ember months.
Nkwonta noted that the campaign was especially targeted at the commercial drivers because they carry more passengers than owners of private vehicles.