The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says operatives of the corps will begin to bear arms to curtail the excesses of road users in the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Akinfolarin Mayowa, said this during the corps’ 2020 budget performance and 2021 budget defence, on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the1992 Act of FRSC allowed the corps to bear arms, adding, however, that this had yet to be implemented.
The chairman said it was necessary that the laws of the land were obeyed to allow the corps to function effectively by bearing arms.
According to him, eradicating accidents on the nation’s highways should be the collective responsibility of all Nigerians, adding that no stone should be left unturned to achieve this.
The lawmaker said that the committee would meet with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and also write to President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the implementation of the Act.
A member of the committee, Solomon Maren, while speaking on the FRSC bearing arms, said that the committee would take up the matter with the Inspector-General of Police.
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He added that the country’s law should be obeyed, stressing that there were more risks on the roads, hence the FRSC should be allowed to bear arms to safe road users.
The FRSC Corps Marshall, Boboye Oyeyemi, said that members of the corps were now faced with more deviant road users, some of whom, he said, had threatened to deal with them on the road.
He solicited for help from the committee to curtail the excesses of road users by ensuring that FRSC personnel were allowed to bear arms.
Mr Oyeyemi said that the corps now had 280 formations cross the country and it had established its presence in virtually all the local government areas across the country.
The corps marshal said that the only place left were the riverine areas of Akwa Ibom, Ondo and other states.
He also said that in 2020, only 50 per cent of the budget was released, stressing that this could not allow the corps to embark on some capital projects.
Mr Oyeyemi said that N1.459 billion was remitted to the consolidated account by the corps in the outgoing year.
He urged the federal government to direct local government to relocate markets on highways in order to stop incessant deaths.
(NAN)
