The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said it has the right to operate both on the highways and within the cities.
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had asked the FRSC to limit its activities to only the suburbs of cities and the highways. He said the decision was to enable free flow of traffic.
However, Shehu Zaki, an Assistant Corps Marshal and Zonal Commanding Officer of the corps in Lagos and Ogun States, said FRSC officers cannot leave the roads totally.
“The Governor cannot force us out of the roads, but he can advise us as he has already done,” Zaki said.
“That policy of the Lagos state government is even going to help us more and allow us to effectively deliver on our mandate on the highways, even more than before.
“Safety is something that has always been at the heart of FRSC operations and we are doing effectively both within the cities and on the highways”, he added.
Zaki said Ambode’s order had negative implications.
“The implication is that even some members of the public who do not know how we operate have started telling some of our officers to leave the roads, in line with the governor’s call,” he said.
“There are certainly some negative implications to this statement, coming from a state governor and we are mindful of that.
“It did not come as a surprise because it was our own concept; we felt that such a policy will help us to serve the people better”, he added.
Comments