Group Seeks Support Traffic Officer To Reduce Road Crashes

A group, Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative (APRI), has called on the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Bello, to support the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (FCT-DRTS), otherwise known as Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) to improve road crash prevention in the territory.

Executive director of the group, Prince Fidelis Nnadi, who made the call in an interview with LEADERSHIP in Abuja yesterday, said such support could be in form of logistics and legislative approvals.

Nnadi noted that there had been an improvement in traffic management and enforcement on road traffic regulations in the FCT through the various road traffic safety initiatives being implemented by the new director of FCT-DRTS, Dr Abdul-Lateef Bello.

He pointed out that some of the initiatives include effective monitoring and enforcement on commercial motorcycle ban, sustenance of effective road traffic safety enforcement on FCT roads, elimination of the activities and operations of “One Chance” and ensuring zero tolerance to corruption in the directorate.

Nnadi recalled that by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) index, the FCT had always remained on the highest ladder of road crashes, deaths and injuries compared to other states in Nigeria, stressing that with the current approach, administrative and operational restructured system in the directorate, there were great expectations that the FCT would move down the ladder of road crash index of the NBS.