ABUJA –
The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, says it has become expedient to clarify the misconceptions and misrepresentations regarding the alleged involvement of its personnel in the unfortunate crash that occurred on 1st February, 2020 within RS11.31 Ogbomoso general operation area of the Corps.
A statement on Sunday by Bisi Kazeem, Corps Commander, Public Education states:
“The crash involved a Toyota Hiace with
registration number (AA 396 RBC) and an unregistered (Jincheng) motorcycle overloaded with 3 pillions whose video lately dominated the social media sphere.
When the news of the crash first came to the knowledge of the Corps, the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi immediately directed the constitution of an investigative panel to ascertain the true cause and severity of the crash. At the end of its investigation, the panel came up with the following discoveries which have been verified to be the main fact about the unfortunate incident.
The summary of the investigation is that, the patrol team alleged to have caused the crash did not at anytime chase after the vehicle; neither did they chase the bike in question. The point is, and still remains that the team was actually detailed on patrol operations on that route on the day of the unfortunate incident, carrying out their legitimate duty until an emergency call came through from a senior staff of Parrot FM who reported a lone crash that had occurred along Ogbomoso-Odo Oba road involving a tanker that fell on the highway.
Being an organization that places much value to saving lives and creating a safer motoring environment and as part of its corporate obligation to respond to crashes within five minutes, the team immediately rushed down to the crash scene to carry out rescue services.
While on their way to the crash scene, they met a crash in which they eventually evacuated two critically injured persons to the hospital while leaving one of our personnel to ensure the safety of the vehicle and properties therein with a lone corpse from the crash.
While it is gratifying to state clearly at this point that the Corps is deeply saddened over the unfortunate incident, especially the attendant loss of lives and damage to properties that the crash brought upon the innocent victims and their families. It is pertinent to note that the Federal Road Safety Corps is not in the practice of chasing after vehicles as the Corps has its professional ethics guiding the conduct of its personnel on patrol operations.
For emphasis, the Corps is still committed to achieving its corporate mandate of eradicating road traffic crashes and creating a safer motoring environment in compliance with global best practices and rules of engagement. As such members of the public are called to always hearken to established traffic laws and obey law enforcement agents on the road and stop attacking them each time they are on emergency rescue .
As a Corps, we are unrepentantly committed to entrenching safety on our roads through applicable safety standards and will admonish the general public to always see what they can do to contribute to save lives on our roads rather than engage in destructive criticism.
