By Paul Efiong, Abuja
Following incessant fuel tanker accidents with the attendant loss of lives and property, a Non-Governmental Organization popularly known as Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative (APRI) has urged petrol tanker drivers to desist from driving without proper certification by the relevant regulatory agencies and driving without valid road worthiness.
APRI whose mandate among others is to entrench a culture of safe and defensive driving in the nation’s highways gave the advice in a statement in Abuja signed by its Executive Director, Prince Fidelis Nnadi who decried the rate at which the accidents occur and the enormous loss of lives and property.
According to him, “we cannot tolerate a situation where tanker drivers drive without being properly certified by the regulatory agencies, including the driving of those trucks without valid road worthiness certification.
He further reiterated that safety of lives and property is the primary responsibility of government and urged governments at all levels to jealously guard it.
Nnadi noted that “recently tankers loaded with petroleum products crashed and were engulfed with fire that destroyed lives and properties in Anambra and Lagos States. As a result of such ugly incidents, the Anambra State Government has restricted the movement of articulated trucks on its roads at peak hours of traffic.
On solutions to the menace of road accidents on Nigerian roads, he appealed to the States/FCT government to understand that they are constitutionally responsible for regulating road traffic safety on their roads and such can be achieved by equipping their Vehicle Inspection/Road Traffic Officers with operational vehicles, regular training and above all improve the quality of their services in the enforcement of road traffic regulations in their respective States/FCT.
