The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned motorists against driving on road shoulder and speeding during the festive season to avoid road accidents.
Mr Justin Uwazuruonye, Head, NEMA’s Abuja Operations Office, gave the warning at a stakeholders interactive training on the use of extricating tools on-board the rapid response vehicles and other equipment in Abuja.
Uwazuruonye said that the essence of the training was to enlighten the participants on the use of the tools to enable them to handle disaster victims in a professional manner.
According to him, one agency cannot achieve traffic incident management, as such, it is important to sharpen their skills when carrying out their task of saving lives during disasters.
“The essence of the training is to make sure that they have the capacity to respond effectively and efficiently and also to manage the equipment.
“Recently, we noticed that so many Nigerians do not obey traffic rules and they don’t even pay attention to traffic signs and symbols.
“Some of them do not even know that driving on the shoulder of the road is wrong, but you will see some road users speeding on that part of the road.
“That place is meant for them to park or if there is a problem with their vehicle, they can park there to give way to other road users.
“Most times, that is what causes hold up and accidents, which in turn will require the attention of emergency responders,” he said.
He added that the agency, in collaboration with other stakeholders, would also be manning major routes along FCT to sensitise road users to the need for embracing safety measures during the yuletide.
He added that the Giri-Lokoja road, Zuba-Kaduna, City gate, as well as the Nyanya-AYA routes, would be its major focus as those areas usually witness heavy traffic associated with the season.
He, however, appealed to motorists to cooperate with the emergency responders and avoid dangerous driving, overtaking, overloading as well as the use of phones while driving.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training had in attendance personnel from the Fire Service, Civil Defence, VIO, FRSC, NEMA and FCT Emergency Management Agency.(NAN)
