By Moses Akaigwe
The Inter-agency Joint Task Force recently inaugurated by the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dauda Ali Biu, to operate along critical corridors, has apprehended 35 trailers carrying 982 passengers.
Various teams of the task force were constituted by the FRSC boss about two weeks ago and charged with deploying strategies to fight against the excesses of trailers, especially the use of such heavy duty vehicles for conveying passengers which has been leading to fatal road crashes.
According to the reports of the special intervention patrol operations made available by the FRSC National Headquarters, a total of 19 trailers carrying 810 people where apprehended on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.
Similarly, the JTF team covering Bauchi-Maiduguri general operation area of the corps also arrested 16 trailers conveying 172 passengers on that route.
The arrests were made within the first one week beginning from March 23 to 30, 2024 of the JTF’s operations on the identified routes.
At the points of arrests, the inter-agency Joint Task Force ensured that all passengers onboard the trailers were dropped, cautioned against the deadly act and asked to join passenger vehicles designed for conveying people.
While the special operations were going on, the Corps Marshal also directed Sector Commanders of the states where the act is more prominent, to sustain ongoing engagement with the leadership of road transport unions as well as owners of articulated vehicles.
According to Jonas Agwu, the Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Public Education Officer, the Corps Marshal’s directive was to ensure that drivers who engage in such traffic violations are cautioned.
The Corps Marshal flagged off the Inter-agency Joint Task Force on March 23, 2024 in Kaduna State, comprising the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, State Traffic Management Agencies and Transport Unions.
The mandate of the JTF is to mitigate trailer related crashes and fatalities as well as stop the use of trailers to convey passengers following the spate of a number of avoidable crashes that involved trailers loaded with goods, animals and passengers that led to deaths and injuries.
One of the crashes occurred on March 4, 2024 in Tashan Yari, where a trailer loaded with grains and passengers crashed and killed 12 persons.
Others were those of March 18, 2024 where a trailer loaded with goods and 172 passengers crashed on the Kaduna-Abuja expressway, killing 10 people; as well as that of Sunday March 31, 2024 in Obajana which led to the death of 13 people.