A Federal Road Safety Corps mobile court presided over by Chief Magistrate Friday Igbenosa at Ramat Park in Benin, Edo state, has arraigned 250 traffic offenders for violating various traffic-related offences ranging from dangerous driving, overloading, use of phone while driving, non use of seat belt, driving with expired vehicle papers among other road traffic vices, between 30 September- 7 October 2014.
This exercise which formed part of a nationwide mobile court seating during the recent Eid-el-Kabir sallah celebration, was integrated into the Corps’ drive to ensure strict compliance with traffic rules and regulations in addition to quick dispensation with infractions during the sallah patrols.
Details of the mobile court exercise indicate that a total of 9,862 traffic offenders were arrested by FRSC operatives along various routes on major highways for contravening 10,598 traffic-related offences.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps, 250 traffic offenders were arraigned with 230 attracting various degree of convictions for which they paid fines while 19 others were discharged and acquitted.
Narrating on the offender who was sent to jail, the Edo State Sector Commander, Oluwasusi Familoni, Corps Commander said that “one Mr Osas Osarunwenbo drove recklessly while approaching the FRSC patrol team at Oragbeni area of Benin and was stopped by the Corps’ operatives”.
Speaking further, the Sector Commander said “in the course of the normal routine check, the driver was found to be carrying expired vehicle papers and was asked to pull over while an arresting Marshal entered his Ford bus to accompany him to the mobile court. Unfortunately, he sped off with the Marshal and drove to a distant location but was trailed by an FRSC team”.
“On getting to a location, the driver jumped out and incited passers-by against the FRSC team and even used a spade to inflict minor injuries on an FRSC staff but was eventually over powered and brought before the Chief Magistrate where after thorough legal process, he was sent to a month’s imprisonment with an option to pay N100,000.00 fine”.
The Sector Commander also said that the offender was charged for reckless driving, failure to use seat belt, violation of caution sign and assault of a Marshal on duty. “when the offender showed that he could not pay the stipulated fine, the Chief Magistrate had to send him to jail”.
Reacting to the mobile court exercise and the jail term, the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Boboye Oyeyemi said that “the mobile courts have formed part of the FRSC tradition to inject order and sanity in the traffic conduct of drivers who ply the nation’s highways and the need to curb the spate of road traffic violations and recklessness among drivers which no doubt, contributes to road crashes and poses further challenges to safer road use in the country”.
Speaking further, the Corps Marshal added “mobile court also form part of the Corps’ enforcement strategies in line with Part II Section 10 (9) of the FRSC Establishment Act 2007 for the purpose of a speedy trial of traffic offenders” he said.
In a related development, the Federal Road Safety Corps has prosecuted four fleet operators in Port Harcourt, Rivers state for non compliance with the set standards under the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme (RTSSS), in line with Section 10(4) of the FRSC Establishment Act, 2007 and Section 220 of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012.
Details of the prosecution indicate that the defaulting fleet operators were found wanting during the Corps’ routine check on fleet operators’ compliance status, during which 46 transporters were identified, 11 were served notice of prosecution while four others are presently undergoing litigation process for non compliance with stipulated standards.
It will be recalled that the Corps had in 2012, taken two fleet operators to a Benin court for contravening the provisions of the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme. After the judgement, the deviant fleet operators were fined N50,000.00 each and later complied with the provisions of the scheme bordering on minimum safety standards for their vehicles, adequate training for their drivers, appointment of safety manager among other requirements.
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