The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Tuesday launched a seven-day campaign against over-speeding and reckless driving along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The campaign, tagged “Operation Shield”, was launched at Mowe, Ogun, by Mr Ademola Lawal, Zonal Commander, FRSC, RS2 Headquarters, Lagos.
Lawal said that the essence of the operation was to ensure reduction in road accidents on the highway.
Lawal said during the seven-day operation, FRSC officers would carry out motorised patrol from Ojota toll-gate in Lagos to Oluyole toll-gate in Ibadan to monitor the driving habits of motorists on the road.
He explained that the FRSC officers would also compel motorists to obey speed limits and warned that any motorist caught disobeying traffic laws would be arrested and punished.
“This operation is one of the strategies the FRSC headquarters has put in place to ensure that on those critical corridors, which Lagos-Ibadan is one of them, the rate of road crashes is reduced.
“The essence of this reduction is to meet the UN Decade of Action which says all nations should reduce rates of road crashes by 50 per cent.
“Apart from that, we need to meet our strategic goal for 2013, which is to reduce road crashes in Nigeria by 20 per cent and road traffic crashes related fatality by 30 per cent,” Lawal said.
He said from all the research available to the commission, over-speeding was one of the major causes of road crashes on the highways.
“We will do our best to reduce road traffic crashes on the Lagos-Ibadan highway corridor and there is no other way to do it than all these initiatives we are putting in place to ensure that we justify our existence,” he stated.
Lawal, however, urged FRSC personnel, who would be involved in the operation to be polite to road users.
“Carry out your duty as a disciplined officer. Don’t fight anybody on the road and try as much as possible to use your discretion to handle situations.
“Make all necessary arrests. You are bound to be insulted but you should know you are a public servant and be ready to accept those insults in the interest of the service to the nation,” the FRSC boss said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRSC launched eight patrol vehicles for the operation.