The Zonal Commanding Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Zone 4, comprising Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States, Assistant Corps Marshal Kayode Olagunju, mni, has warned the motoring public to stop offering the Marshals bribes. He reminded road users that both bribe givers and takers are committing criminal offences as in Sections 8, 9 an 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.
He noted that the ICPC Act in Section 23, 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 3 months as prescribed in Section 10 (11) of the FRSC Act. 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.
Dr Olagunju gave the advice while reviewing the Operational activities of the Command with the Principal Officers of the Zonal Headquarters in Jos, Plateau State. The Report revealed that a total of 305 motorists were apprehended in the Zone in the last five months for offering bribes to the Marshals on Patrol. 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. The amount offered ranged between Two Hundred and Five thousand Naira. Curiously, 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 .
He 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. Some of the arrested bribe givers are being prosecuted while others have paid the ten thousand naira fines each and also forfeited to the government the offered bribes.
In a press statement signed by the Acting Zonal Public Education Officer, Route Commander Olusegun Owoeye, 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. The Command has put in place Surveillance Mechanism which has monitors comprising of both FRSC staff and non staff that occasionally storm the road unannounced to put eyes on the activities of the patrol teams without the team knowing, to identify Operatives violating the Patrol Guidelines.
Some of the patrol team members, vehicles and surroundings are searched to ensure nobody has more than the previously declared maximum permittable One thousand naira 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.
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. The Command is poised to enhance Surveillance activities to improve on the integrity of the Patrol Operations.
The Commander 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.
Dr Kayode Olagunju also admonished members of the public to always turn down the request 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 has bold body code numbers while Officers and Men have their Name tags for easy identitification for reporting.
The Command wishes all road users safe journeys always.
