Pursuant to the need to mitigate the spread of coronavirus amongst passengers, the Federal Road Safety Corps has arrested a total of 144 offenders for overloading of vehicles in persons
This is even as it ordered all categories of transporters to ensure full compliance with the provisions of Regulation 108 (1) of the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012 on compulsory passenger manifest.
The corps also directed all public transport operators to imbibe necessary precautionary measures in their parks and terminals as failure to adhere strictly to this order will attract the necessary sanctions.
They are also expected to have temperature readers and hand sanitisers.
FRSC Corps Marshal Dr Boboye Oyeyemi gave the order, according to a statement issued by the Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem.
The statement observed that despite the palpable spread of the virus, public transport operators continued to board passengers to full capacity without consideration to social distancing, passenger manifest and seat spacing of passengers.
He emphatically noted that all passengers travelling; not only during the epidemic regime but at all times, have the statutory obligation to write down their full information in the passenger manifest before commencement of the trip.
On overloading, the Corps Public Education Officer stated that the figures of the arrests was drawn from 16 states with the highest number of arrests recorded in the Federal Capital Territory where a total of 52 overloaded vehicles were impounded while Lagos State followed suite with a total of 17 arrests.
He gave the list of states where more than 5 arrests were made as Plateau 14, Delta 13, Benue 9, Adamawa 6, and Katsina with a total of 6 arrests.
While Nasarawa and Ogun State recorded 5 arrests each, Niger and Kwara recorded 4 each, Osun 3, Rivers and Akwa Ibom had 2 each with Zamfara and Enugu recording the lowest arrest of 1 per state.
