By Stanley Onyekwere
In order to reduce road crashes in the Abuja, the nation’s capital city, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has been charged to swiftly enforce speed, overloading and other relevant traffic laws.
According to the Director General of the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency(FEMA), Alhaji Abbas Idriss who gave this charge, road crashes have reached an alarming rate due to reckless driving by motorists.
He revealed that in 2021, FEMA through various road rescue operations, saved 217 people while 17 lives were fatally injured.
Idriss, in a statement from Head, Public Relations Unit (PRU) at the Agency, Nkechi Isa particularly appealed to the FRSC to enforce the extant rules and regulations against overloading and non-wearing of seat belts.
He also decried the absence of fire extinguishers in most vehicles, noting that even where there is one, it is often expired.
According to the DG, “these laws are critical as they are meant to reduce casualties on our roads.
“At a point where nobody is to die, ten die due to reckless driving, overloading and not wearing seat belts.”
In a related development, the FEMA boss called for the expansion of the scope and operators manning the 112 emergency toll free number to further improve the response time.
He disclosed that 90% of FEMA’s distress calls come through the 112 number, noting that this shows that the people have access and are using the number frequently, hence, the need to reduce the waiting time by callers.
While commending the recent launch of the 5G network by the government, he noted that MDAs must digitalise their systems to ensure the full utilisation of the technology.
He however disclosed that FEMA intends to deploy technology in tackling disasters particularly during flooding.
