Motorists cry foul as FRSC officers ‘take over’ Abuja roads

Motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed concern over alleged harassment by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) across the territory. Some of the motorists who spoke with Abuja Metro on Wednesday said that since the ban on Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) from arresting or impounding vehicles, FRSC personnel have allegedly […]

Motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed concern over alleged harassment by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) across the territory.

Some of the motorists who spoke with Abuja Metro on Wednesday said that since the ban on Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) from arresting or impounding vehicles, FRSC personnel have allegedly continued to arrest and sometimes fine them at various mobile courts across the FCT.

They alleged that some FRSC personnel stationed at strategic locations in the territory mostly target private vehicle owners, where they impound vehicles and fine them for minor traffic offences or incomplete vehicle particulars.

Mr. Kenneth Johnson, a driver who resides in Nyanya, Abuja, told our reporter he was allegedly arrested by FRSC personnel around Karu bridge while on his way to work for a minor offence. 

He claimed that the vehicle was impounded for nearly two hours after he was stopped and asked to present his vehicle papers. 

He said he was later fined after the FRSC personnel discovered that his driver’s license had expired.

“Actually, I stopped for the FRSC officials and presented my vehicle papers to them. After they went through them, they asked me for my driver’s license, in which I told them it had expired and that I would renew it after receiving my salary. But they delayed me for more than an hour before I was allowed to go,” he claimed.

Another motorist, Ibrahim Suleiman, a resident of Kubwa, said he was traveling with his family to Kaduna on a Friday when he was flagged down by some FRSC personnel at the Dei-Dei junction and was asked for his vehicle particulars.

He said that after presenting all his vehicle papers, the FRSC personnel demanded that he present a fire extinguisher.

He said he told the officials that he had none.

“And the next thing I realized was that they fined me for not having a fire extinguisher in my car, which is quite unfortunate because the way some of these FRSC personnel are conducting themselves on the highway, harassing motorists, I don’t think is best,” he said.

He added, “Before, motorists saw the VIOs as a threat, but since the government banned them from arresting motorists, FRSC personnel have now taken the opportunity to harass and impound people’s vehicles even minor offences.”

Malam Awwalu Idris, a commercial driver who plies the Gwagwalada-Zuba axis, also lamented the alleged harassment of motorists by FRSC personnel around the Giri-Tungan Maje road.

He claimed that some FRSC personnel allegedly impounded his vehicle around Zuba two days ago over a non-functional windscreen wiper, saying he had to pay a fine before his vehicle was released to him.

“In fact, I had to offload my passengers into another vehicle after they held me for over an hour, even though I was begging them. They would not listen until I had to pay a fine that day before I was allowed to go,” he claimed.

Bissala Masu’d, another commercial driver in the Kuje area council of the FCT, also shared his experience, alleging that some FRSC personnel arrested him for wrong parking along the airport road.

“I think that day I stopped to pick up a passenger by the tipper garage when two FRSC personnel suddenly came and blocked me, saying I was parked wrongly. I was even trying to explain to them, but they wouldn’t listen to me and ended up booking me,” he said.

Another driver, Isiaka Raimi, said he was arrested by the FRSC personnel shortly after Ushafa bridge in Bwari Area Council, adding that despite not booking him for serious offence, he was delayed for about an hour.

He said, ‘’The truth is that since the withdraw of VIO from arresting drivers, FRSC personnel have taken over the harassment previously associated with the VIO.

‘’They will arrest you at will and once they stopped, they must find one offence for you. Honestly something needed to be done to check their utterances on the road,’’ he said.

He pleaded with the FCT Sector Commander, Felix Thisman, to caution his men on the road and operate professionally.

But reacting, the FCT sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Felix Theman, said it was obvious that everyone knows that there is a lot of traffic indiscipline among motorists in the FCT, which he said it was not possible for any reasonable person to allow to continue.

He said anybody who comes into the FCT will notice that there are a lot of issues, saying people drive recklessly against traffic, overload, overspeed, and among other violations of traffic rules and regulations.

“And there’s no country that will just allow such things to continue. And what we have done in recent times is to step up our mobile courts, which before now we carried out once every three months, whether in Yangoji or Gwagwalada,” he said.

According to him, what the commission wants is to see how they can improve the way and manner motorists drive on the roads, to foster a culture of safety and discipline on the roads. 

He said this is not possible without public education and enforcement.

“And since I came on board, I said we need to do something because everybody is complaining. The same Nigerians who are now alleging that they are being harassed by the FRSC are the same people who were complaining about the failure of motorists to obey traffic rules and regulations,” he said.

He said the FRSC had, in the last two weeks along the AYA-Nyanya-Mararaba axis, consistently set up a mobile court, in which he said over 700 motorists were arrested for various traffic offenses.

“And out of these 700 motorists that were arrested, 70 percent of the offences were people that drove against traffic rules and regulations or overloaded their vehicles. And that’s something we cannot just allow motorists to continue to behave as they like. So that is just the reality on the ground,” he said.