Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC) Enugu Sector Command has assured partnership with the members of the Corporate Online Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Enugu chapter, describing Online media practitioners as drivers of trending events.
Sector Commander of the RS 9.1 (FRSC) Enugu Command, Adeyemi Sokumbi gave the assurance on Friday when he received an audience, of members of the Corporate Online Chapel of the NUJ, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
He disclosed that since assumption of office, the Command had put so many measures in place to reduce road crashes in the State. He said apart from two major crashes which happened in Nsukka where 17 lives were lost and in Ugwu Onyeama, where 6 lives were lost, road crashes had reduced in the State.
The Sector Commander explained that there were crash-prone areas in the state, and one of them was Ugwu Onyeama. He disclosed that from their findings, most accidents at Ugwu Onyeama occurred in the evening. Sokunbi explained that drivers speed to get home before night and in the process of the rush, some drivers overtake anyhow, sometimes two vehicles will overtake at the same time, leading to a road crash.
”If we take the human factor out of it, we will reduce crashes”, he said. The Sector Commander added that the Command had carried out some measures to reduce road crashes. These included enlightening motorists and members of the public on safety measures on the road.
“We had advocacy in the Churches and motor parks and we used the media. Ugwu Onyeama becomes a factor in Enugu state. It has become a recurrent decimal. What is happening there is the human factor, wrong overtaking, distractions, and pressing of phones while steering. So, we tried to talk to people and enforce to transverse this our Enugu axis to safety, he said.
The Sector Commander added that they went to Transport Companies to talk to them, to ensure their drivers were safe.
Sokunbi disclosed that they also applied red flag measures on the road to calm drivers on speed. He said operatives of the Command from time to time go to Ugwu Onyeama to do that. He urged travellers to have an open mind when travelling on the road.
His words, ” There is nothing spectacular in that place. I just realized in the evening people coming into Enugu will be rushing to get home on time, coming from far distances. People who have to weigh bills will be calling their clients. In the evening, you see people trying to overtake about two vehicles or trying to rush home. Accidents at that place are not caused by spirit as people were meant to believe. It’s 80% human factor, over speeding, wrong overtaking, distractions among others”.
Applauding the Corporate Online media for their good jobs in the society, Sokunbi said,” We are happy you came. We will work with you. Yours is driving what is trending. So, we want you to spread the gospel of the safety of our roads. The gospel is, we kill the speed on our roads before our speed will kill us.”
He promised that the command would work with the Corporate Online Chapel, saying, “We will work in synergy with you”
He appealed to Journalists to always confirm their reports before pushing them to members of the public to avoid misleading the public
Earlier, the Chairman of Corporate Online Chapel, Comrade Clinton Umeh informed the Sector Commander that the courtesy visit was to inform him about the chapel. He said the chapel is a new Chapel approved by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) national, to distinguish professional online Journalists from bloggers who are not Journalists. Umeh hinted that the chapel comprises a diverse group of online media professionals and are keen to foster a strong and collaborative relationship with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Enugu.
”It is our firm belief that understanding your efforts and challenges will enable us to report accurately and effectively on matters of road safety, traffic management and public safety campaigns. It will also allow both parties to explore potential areas of collaboration where our platforms can support and amplify the critical work your command is doing in promoting road safety and reducing traffic accidents”, Umeh said.
He expressed gratitude to the Sector Commander for the audience given the chapel.
Officers present at the visit were the Sector Commander RS9.1 Enugu state Sector Command, T. Adeyemi Sokunbi. The Head of Operations – The Deputy Corps Commander, V A. Odia. The Sector Intelligence Officer, SRC C.C.Onovo. The Sector Public Enlightenment Officer, RC Theophilus Okoduwa, Sector Protocol Officer, DRC I.C. Onunkwo and Personal Assistant to the Sector Commander, ARC N.A. Madukwe.
