No fewer than 36 persons have been reported dead in various Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in Edo, Delta and Anambra between January and March, this year.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three states make up the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Zone 5, with the zonal headquarters in Benin.
The Zonal Commanding Officer (ZCO), Mr Kehinde Adeleye, disclosed this on Friday in Benin at the Second Quarter Zonal retreat for commanding officers, zonal heads of departments and units in the zone.
Adeleye said the figure was against the 34 deaths recorded within the same period in 2018.
He said that within the same period, 57 RTCs were recorded, as against 47 in 2018, while 170 persons were involved, as against the 173 recorded in 2018, in the same period.
Adeleye said that the need for the retreat could not be over-emphasised, saying that it was a capacity building programme targeted at commanding officers and unit heads in the zone.
“It has been observed that there has been an increase in RTCs, as well as fatalities in the first quarter.
“It is also necessary for FRSC officials to put heads together and come up with new initiatives to ensure that the major goals and objectives of the “Decade of Action on Road Safety’’ are achieved,’’ Adeleye said.
He, however, explained that the FRSC had less than one year to achieve the basic objectives of the Decade of Action on Road Safety, adding that there was need for personnel in the zone to work hard to achieve set goals.
NAN reports that a paper titled “An Overview of Assessment Criteria for 2019, as Aligned with 2019 FRSC corporate strategy Goals’’ was delivered by Mr Ben Anafa.
Anafa, who is the Corps Commandant, Monitoring and Evaluation, FRSC Headquarters, Abuja, urged FRSC personnel to evolve a positive work ethic, embrace technology and avoid distractions while on duty.
