3rd August, 2010
Operatives of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) will not carry arms in discharging their responsibilities to the Nigerian public.
The Corps Marshal, Mr. Osita Chidoka, made this declaration at the Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
He said, however, that the Act which set up the commission empowers it to carry arms.
Chidoka stressed that the commission’s duty was primarily to ensure a change of attitude among Nigerians for safety on the highways.
The corps marshal noted that bearing arms would negate the efforts of road safety marshals to inculcate in the minds of the motoring public the need to think safety always.
The FRSC boss said that they might, however, carry arms to protect the commission’s various equipment and installations for efficiency and prompt response to emergencies.
According to him, attitudinal change is the driving force behind the massive public enlightenments on the commission’s safety programmes on the wearing of helmets and speed limit.
Chidoka noted that the public and the nation would gain more from such changes than causing them to be afraid through the use of arms.
On the commission’s focus on enforcing wearing of crash helmets by motorcyclists only in the urban areas, Chidoka said that they planned to storm the rural areas later.
He said the commission wanted motorcyclists to wear the helmets out of understanding and for safety reasons, and not out of compulsion and fear.
