By Christian Njoku
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – SC Innocent Etuk, Cross River State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has warned drivers in the state to repent from committing road traffic infractions or face jail terms.
Etuk, who made the call on Monday along Calabar-Odukpani Road, during a mobile court proceeding to try drivers for various traffic infractions, said that on his assumption of office, he made it clear that he was ready to send many drivers to jail unless they repented.
The sitting presided by a Magistrate, Mr Eno Iyamba, arraigned 49 traffic offenders, convicted 46, while three were discharged.
114 Offences were recorded with Drivers Licence Violation (DLV), Seatbelt Use Violation (SUV), Attempting Corrupt Marshal on duty (ACS) as the most prevalent.
Speaking further, the sector commander said the exercise was the Corps’ strategic intervention to cut down the excesses of the motoring public in terms of traffic infractions.
“Today is another mobile court sitting to fulfil our mandate to bring down road crashes; at least once or twice every month, we carry out these intervention patrols to achieve our mandate.
“It is sad that despite our advocacies through the media and others, traffic infractions are not abating. Last month, many drivers were convicted for attempting to corrupt our minds, and this month it is still on the increase.
“In the month of September, we did not convict any driver for Dangerous Driving (DGD), but this month we have already convicted one, and it took our synergy with sister agencies to get this done,” he said.
He noted that as the “ember” months continued, the Corps had identified flash points in the state where it normally encounters challenges such as Odukpani Junction, Okurikang, Ikom Four Corners and Ogoja towards Vandeikya
He said they are also planning to have a camp around Okurikang that would be on and effective till late in the night to enable the Corps to reduce response time in the case of any emergency.
