FRSC warns motorists against bribing patrol men, arrests 305 offenders

*Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps says those who attempt to corrupt staff of the Corps face the risk of imprisonment for not more than three months as prescribed in Section 10 (11) of the FRSC Act

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned the motoring public to stop offering the Marshals bribes in Nigeria.

Dr. Kayode Olagunju, mni, Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) and Zonal Commanding Officer (ZCO) of the FRSC in Zone RS4, comprising Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States, who stated this said the motoring public should stop offering bribes to the Corps Marshals.

RC Olusegun Owoeye, Acting Public Education Officer, Zone RS4, in a statement Tuesday, February 23, 2021, in Jos, Plateau State capital, said Dr. Olagunju issued the warning while reviewing the Operational activities of the Command with the Principal Officers of the Zonal Headquarters in Jos.

The statement noted the FRSC ACM and ZCO reminded the road users that both bribe givers and takers are committing criminal offences as in Sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) Act, 2000  and also Section 10 (5) (i) of the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act, 2007.

Section 23 of the ICPC Act provides for 3 years imprisonment or more upon conviction.

Those who attempt to corrupt staff of the Corps face the risk of imprisonment for not more than three months as prescribed in Section 10 (11) of the FRSC Act, said the Commission.

The regulatory Commission stated those who are arrested for committing traffic offences are advised in their own interests not to offer bribes to FRSC men in the course of their duties.

The statement said the report revealed that a total of 305 motorists were apprehended in the last five months for offering bribes to the Marshals on patrol in the Zone.

The breakdown showed that 89 number of bribe givers were apprehended in Plateau State, 104 arrested in Benue while 112 others who attempted to corrupt the men on the road were arrested in Nasarawa State.

According to the FRSC, the amount offered ranged between N200 and N5,000. Curiously, it said, some even offered more money than the stipulated fines of the offence committed as they opted to attempt compromising the process of fines payment or prosecution rather than having their times “wasted”, or face the risks of imprisonment.

Olagunju further observed that observed that the fines payment process, which includes attending Re-Orientation Classes for Offenders, is so designed to discourage committing traffic offences as some of the fines are so low and could be ineffective to serve as deterrence.

He disclosed that some of the arrested bribe givers are being prosecuted, while others have paid N10,000 fines each, while also forfeiting the bribes offered to the government.

The Zonal Commander also warned the bad eggs in the Zone still engaging in extortion, to desist from the act.

He promised to sustain his monitoring and surveillance activities, as the Command has put in place surveillance mechanism which has monitors, comprising both FRSC staff and non-staff that occasionally storm the road unannounced to monitor the activities of the patrol teams without the team knowing, and identify any operatives violating the Patrol Guidelines.

In view of this directive, Olagunju added that some of the patrol team members, vehicles and surroundings are searched to ensure nobody has more than the previously declared maximum permittable N1,000 on them.

In line with Regulation 23 (1c, e ) and (2a-c) of the FRSC Regulations on Discipline, 2018 as amended, some staff of the Corps engaging in Patrol misconduct were also arrested.

The penalty for the violation is Termination of Appointment of the defaulting staff, he said.

Olagunju added that in the last six months, 21 patrol officers and men of the zone were arrested for extortion/patrol misconduct, and subjected to the FRSC Disciplinary Proccess accordingly.

He stated the Command is poised to enhance surveillance activities to improve on the integrity of the patrol operations across the zone.

The Zonal Commander, therefore, admonished all the officers and men of the Corps to key into the various welfare programmes of the Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi-led Management of the FRSC, which are meant to discourage corrupt practices.

He reminded all Regular and Special Marshals that the Corps has zero tolerance for bribery and corruption.

Those staff who have been living above-board have also been commended in line with the Management Policy of Consultation, Rewards and Punishment, Olagunju stated.

He as well urged members of the public to always turn down requests for bribes from FRSC men while those who have information on bribery should also report through the FRSC toll free emergency telephone number 122, or the FRSC/Akin Fadeyi Foundation Report Corruption App, FLAG’IT, which can be downloaded from the Google Store.

Every patrol car, he said, has bold body code numbers, while officers and men have their name tags for easy identitification for reporting.