We are a very civil elite corps and we do not condone indiscipline of any kind. We encourage our officials to be civil when dealing with the public”
Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and state owned traffic personnel in the South East, said they treat motorists with human face in enforcing traffic laws across the country.
They disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while reacting to alleged violence meted on motorists by traffic officials enforcing traffic rules and regulation.
The traffic personnel claimed in the contrary, that they had been victims of assault by motorists during enforcement of traffic laws.
Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, Sector Commander, FRSC in Anambra, says there are no cases or complaints of violent conduct by its personnel in traffic laws enforcement.
Irelewuyi told NAN that FRSC officials were on the recieving end of such assault as some motorists harassed and manhandled them.
“We have always been on the recieving end of such assault. We have had instances where members of the public assault our operatives when they try to enforce traffic laws.
“I can assure you that if any member of the public brings such complaint against our operative to the Corps with concrete evidence, such operative will face severe disciplinary action.
“We are a very civil elite corps and we do not condone indiscipline of any kind. We encourage our officials to be civil when dealing with the public, ” he said.
The sector commander said that the corps held pre-patrol briefings on daily basis as well as in-house weekly trainings to ensure civility in the enforcement of traffic rules and regulations in the state.
He however, advised motorists and road users to see the FRSC officials as partners in progress and sustain good driving habits to safety on the roads.
“FRSC personnel are on the road working for the public to ensure safety, not to work against the public or inflict pain on anybody.
“The public or motorists should see us as partners in progress, so that together we can reduce accidents on our roads,” he said.
Mr Joseph Toby, the Sector Commander of the FRSC in Enugu State, said that its personnel had been trained to be courteous with motorists on the road.
He said that FRSC officials had stopped chasing vehicles and forcefully following traffic defaulter both physically or verbally.
According to him, you can see that in the state, we do more of education and enlightenment than enforcement or ticketing motorists.
“We give benefit of doubts to first offenders at times and special consideration to motorists or those with passengers under peculiar situation or health condition.
“We do visit accident victims in hospitals as well as regular check and follow up on those involved in accident we evacuated to any hospital and ensure their property and valuables are kept intact.
“So, our work is always carried out without violence and we ensure touch of humanity in all we do in the corps,” he said.
Contributing, the new Commissioner for Transport in Enugu State, Dr Peter Omeje, pledged that enforcement of traffic rules would be done with human face in the state.
Omeje said the ministry would embark on some reforms meant to enhance its service delivery on traffic flow to the public.
According to him, we must reorient our traffic officers to ensure we remain relevant and work with human face.
“I will be embarking on training and retraining of traffic officials under the Enugu State Traffic Management Authority (ESTMA) to make them more responsive and achieve set targets in courteous manner”.