By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has not eliminated patrol points in the southeast.
This was contained in a statement by the Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO), Mr. Olusegun Ogungbemide, on Sunday in Abuja.
“Our attention has been drawn to a report published on some media platforms insinuating that the FRSC has abolished Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Abia patrol points.
“The misleading statement dates back to the speech delivered by the Zonal Commander (ZCO) of Enugu Zone 9, Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Uche Chukwurah, during a visit to the Abia Sector Command in Umuahia,” he said.
According to him, the ZCO statement should reiterate the position of the FRSC headquarters on the new operational strategy, which would emphasize static patrols in the form of roadblocks.
He said: “Unfortunately, this has been misinterpreted to mean the abolition of patrol points in Zone Command due to security threats.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth, as the statement was not only misleading but also calculated to provide misinformation to innocent members of the public.”
“However, the public needs to know the intention of the FRSC management regarding the ongoing operational re-equipment which is not aimed at the south-eastern states of the country but at the nation as a whole.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the policy of reformulating the operational strategy of the Corps as envisaged by the current leadership under the command of Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed is aimed at improving personnel capacity.
“The goal is also to respond quickly to emergency calls by providing functional emergency vehicles, ambulances and motorcycles.
“In addition, personnel are being retrained for efficient emergency services and the mileage of daily patrol activities is being increased for uninterrupted presence on parts of the road network,” he said.
Ogungbemide said any meaning read into the original statement of the Enugu Zone 9 ZCO to give the impression that the FRSC was abolishing or seeking to abolish patrols in the South East was distorted and misleading and should be ignored.
He explained that the FRSC remains the premier traffic management and security administration agency in Nigeria.
He added that the FRSC remains one of the security agencies tasked with creating a safer road environment.
“We are working harder to improve the quality of service delivery and support to other security agencies.
“This is achieved through reliable processing of driver and vehicle databases that have nothing to do with the alleged abolition of patrol points in the south-east,” he said.
