FRSC arrests traffic offenders in Anambra, takes safety education to mechanics

Anambra State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps has reiterated its commitment to ensuring sanity on the highways.

The State Sector Commander of the Corps, Mr. Andrew Kumapayi, who stated this at the corporate Headquarters of the Agency in Awka, revealed that between December 2019 and January 6th 2020, a total number of nineteen cases of road crashes were recorded in Anambra State.

Mr. Kumapayi said that two deaths were recorded, forty persons injured, thirteen seriously and three were minor during the period under review.

The State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps noted that between January and December 2019, the command arrested twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety eight traffic offenders which shows more commitment of the Officers and Men of the Command in tackling road related issues across the state.

According to Mr Kumapayi, the command in the same year, impounded a total of thirteen thousand two hundred and eight vehicles which was made possible due to the support of the Anambra State Government in ensuring that all the security agencies are given necessary incentives to succeed in their mandate.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps said that during the last yuletide the command deployed its staff to all strategic parts of the state to ensure free vehicular movement in addition to its aggressive enlightenment campaigns at churches, markets, town hall meetings, parks which contributed to the reduction of road crashes during the last yuletide.

Mr. Kumapayi commended the Anambra State government for its various interventions and promised that the command will consolidate on the gains recorded to improve on their success.

Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Commission has introduced more viable means of ensuring that the gospel of safety trickles down to the grassroots to instill the culture of safety and precautions at work places especially where inflammable objects are handled on regular basis like automobile engineering workshops otherwise called mechanic workshops in local parlance.

The move became very poignant because there have been a number of explosions at local mechanic workshops and quack welding workshops as evident in the most recent fire outbreak that occurred at a welder’s workshop in Amawbia, Awka-South local government area of the state,

killing the welder instantly, who was said to have been working on a a rickety petrol tanker with his welding machines and not aware that the truck had remnants of petroleum products in it. This ignited the inferno, causing serious explosions in the area.

Having understudied the entire scenario, the FRSC in Anambra resolved that the real beneficiaries of their safety campaigns should be mechanics across the state.

This took the commission to some mechanical workshops at Amawbia/Enugwu-Agidi junction, Kwata, Nibo, High-tention Aroma Awka, Maryland Estate Amawbia, to mention a few workshops they visited in the course of spreading the message of safety and the need to have fire-extinquishers as well as other protective gargets at the workshops, in case of unfortunate situations like fire outbreaks.

The sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission in Anambra State, Mr. Andrew Ayodele Kumapayi, stated that they came up with what he called the Automobile Workshop Advocacy, primarily to use the initiative as a veritable alternative to reducing road traffic crashes caused by mechanical deficiencies in vehicles.

Kumapayi, who underscored the significance of the strategy, stressed that “one of the identified factors that cause road traffic crashes, is the Mechanical factor.

FRSC Anambra State created a home grown public enlightenment initiative called, ‘Automobile Workshop Advocacy’, which is an intensive Public Enlightenment Campaign geared towards reduction of road traffic crashes caused by mechanically deficient vehicles, occasioned by bad repairs/maintenance of such vehicles, especially by the use of fake and substandard spare parts.”

He said the advocacy visits enabled the commission to educate mechanics by telling them that they are stakeholders in saving lives and not cutting corners while rendering their services to the motoring public because the type of materials they use in servicing vehicles and other automobiles really determine the extent to which mechanically induced road traffic crashes would be reduced in the state.

…Decorates 115 newly promoted officers with ranks

One hundred and fifteen recently promoted Officers and Marshals of the Anambra State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corp have been decorated with their new ranks.

During the event, which took place at the FRSC headquarters in Awka, with the state Sector Commander, Mr. Andrew Kumapayi and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. John Abang, in attendance, the personnel were urged to be more dedicated in the discharge of their duties as the new ranks demand of them.

Mr. Kumapayi, while decorating the new Officers and Marshals together with CP Abang, who inspected a Quarter Guard on arrival, expressed delight over the promotions.

Mr. Kumapayi revealed that they were promoted since December but due to the yuletide, their decorations came now, noting that the promotion will encourage commitment, hard work and effective discharge of their duties.

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Also speaking, Mr. Abang congratulated the decorated officers and noted that his presence was due to the healthy synergy that exists among all the security agencies in the state, which according to him, has yielded positive results and urged the promoted officers to be proud ambassadors of their family, Corps, community and state.

Also speaking, Rev. Christwise Arinze, who attended the decoration and Mrs. Ifeyinwa Eleka, who was promoted to a Route Commander, opined that promotion comes from God alone urging all to work in the light and thanked God for the elevation.

Some others who were promoted, including Mr. Bamidele Ayodele, who was decorated with the rank of Assistant Corp Commander, Mr. Uzoma Enwereuzo promoted to the rank of Superintendent Route Commander, Mr. Chibuzor Ogbuehi, decorated with the rank of Route Commander and Mr. Kingsley Oguejiofor decorated with the rank of Senior Road Marshal, expressed joy over their promotion and promised to live up to expectations.