The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kaduna State Command, Kabir Yusuf Nadabo, has claimed that his personnel are being intimidated by some politicians in the state.
He disclosed this at a media parley at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council over the weekend.
Nadabo explained that despite the intimidation, the mandate of his command was to ensure that the roads were safe for citizens to use.
He said, “I can no longer sit down and be intimidated by some people. Imagine a local government chairman telling my patrol team to stop patrolling on the township roads, but to only operate on the highway.
This shows how far they are taking things. If you ask FRSC to keep off the township roads, what if an accident happened then? Who do you call to come and assist the victims? I am saying it again, that nobody will intimidate me because I am here to serve the people of Kaduna State.
The state traffic agency is not under my control, but courtesy demands that we work together in the interest of the people,” he said.
He lamented that, unfortunately, the state traffic agencies, especially in Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos, were all focused on revenue generation, which is contrary to the norms of creating state traffic agencies.
He explained that they were being created to complement road safety where the FRSC does not have enough personnel to carry out their responsibilities in the state.
He pointed out that today, his men will be seen controlling traffic within the town, with a good patrol team that will be going from one place to the other, educating the motorists.
He cautioned leaders to stop mixing politics with the safety of the lives of Nigerians, adding that in other countries, when you talk about security, the next thing is the safety of lives.
He, however, said that in Nigeria, safety was being relegated and not seen as important, adding that this was the reason why within four years, the country recorded 59 VIP crashes.