By Nkechi Eze
As the Christmas season approaches, bringing with it a surge in cross-country travel, the FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD) has launched “Operation Eagle Eye”, a joint initiative with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). This campaign is designed to promote road safety awareness and encourage responsible driving practices among motorists during the festive period.
At the launch of the “Operation Eagle Eye” campaign at Jabi Motor Park, Ag Director General of FEMD, Engr. Abdulrahman Mohammed, urged commercial drivers to adopt safe driving practices, cautioning against overloading, speeding, disregarding traffic regulations, and reckless driving. By doing so, he emphasized, the number of fatalities on our roads can be significantly reduced.
“This December, a lot of people are traveling, so there is a lot of cross-country movement. Please do not drink and drive; we want everybody to stay alive” he said.
He also appealed to passengers to speak up when they observe something wrong and urged residents to use the 112 emergency toll-free number in the event of an emergency.
Assistant Corps Commander, FRSC, Zilani Ibrahim while speaking, appealed to drivers not to take drugs to enhance their performance while driving, and cautioned against storing petrol in the car, warning that it could combust leading to death.
According to Zilani, “Major problems on our roads include overloading, which can cause death due to tire bursts. Another is night driving; it should be avoided because when there is an issue, getting help is difficult, added to prevailing insecurity”.
The Unit Commander also appealed to commercial motorists to take a rest every 4 hours of drive time and install speed limiters to automatically regulate and reduce the speed of their vehicles.
At the Area 1 motor Park, the Chairman NURTW, Garki Branch 1A, Ibrahim Jubril, said that the Union has held a series of workshops on safe driving with various stakeholders.
In his words “On the issue of over loading we have not been able to finally conclude on it. You will see a fourteen seater bus carrying eighteen passengers because of the cost of petrol. We believe that the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG will reduce operational costs by 75 percent, leading to a reduction in transport costs by January or February” he said.
In addition to the launch at Jabi Motor Park, the FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD) plans to extend the “Operation Eagle Eye” campaign to other motor parks within the Federal Capital Territory, ensuring a wider reach and impact.
