The Sector Commander, Nasarawa Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps, CC Lucie Samuel-Mhii, weekend, called for sustained road safety awareness.
She stated this in commemoration of this year’s Day for the Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims with the theme: Remember, Support and Act’.
Samuel-Mhii said the corps had sustained its awareness and enforcement of traffic rules to reduce frequent road accidents in the state. According to her, there was a reduction in road mishaps this year compared to last year.
She said some measures adopted by the sector to curb road mishaps include aggressive public enlightenment campaigns, adding that the command organised several motor rallies with the participation of various stakeholders.
According to her, the corps embarked on road shows and sensitisation using the media, deploying pidgin English and native languages to drive home the sensitisation in the process.
She said, “Under my leadership, we held town-hall meetings with critical stakeholders to interact and brainstorm on ways to tackle issues that bother on reducing RTC.
“We collaborated with religious leaders by visiting them to educate their congregations on safety measures in curbing crashes that may lead to death. We visited traditional institutions/leaders to help propagate our safety messages to their subjects.
“We have also flagged off our ember months’ campaign by visiting the Osuko of Obi, HRH Alhaji Aliyu Dangiwa Origi Orume, to advocate for collaboration. We also conducted a town-hall meeting in his palace where all critical stakeholders were present to deliberate on safety matters and a roadshow to sensitize the community of safety best practices.”
Mhii said the sector also collaborated with sister agencies to help where necessary to enforce and bring sanity on the roads.
FRSC operatives were constantly on highways for both visibility, prompt rescue response and enforcement to erring motorists, she said, adding that the command periodically embarked on staff training to equip the operatives on best rescue skills to help administer first aid to crash victims before taking them to hospitals.
Quoting her, “The command conducts free vehicle safety checks to educate motorists and point their attention to fixing their vehicles for optimum performance. By implementing these measures, we have and will continue to reduce road traffic crashes significantly and create a safe motoring environment for all road users.”
Meanwhile, road mishaps claimed 111 lives in Nasarawa State from January to October.
The breakdown showed that the state witnessed 442 road crashes with 1,257 injuries involving 2,014 vehicles and persons accordingly.
The figures indicated that there was a slight decrease from road crashes in the state last year, spanning from January to December.
For 2023, figures showed that Nasarawa State recorded 749 road crashes, with 2,025 injuries, 179 deaths, involving 3,782 persons and 1,163 vehicles.
According to the sector commander, “There was 40.9% decrease in the number of road crashes, and 37.9% decrease in the number of deaths as against 2023.”