By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kaduna State Command, Kabir Yusuf Nadabo, has alleged that his personnel were being intimidated by some politicians in the state.

The commander stated this during a media parley at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna state Council at the weekend, where he also disclosed that his Command had received a letter from the state government, stating that its personnel should stay off the township roads.

He explained that despite the intimidation, the mandate of his Command is to ensuring that the roads are safe for the citizens to use.

While addressing the media during the parley, the Sector Commander said: " I have also asked the Kaduna state traffic agency to stay off the federal roads and come to the township roads, but they are yet to comply.

"Despite the intimidation, we have been keeping quiet, not because we are afraid, but because of our civil way of doing things, and I can no longer sit down and being intimidated by some people.

"You can imagine a Local Government Chairman telling my patrol team to stop patrolling on the township roads, but to only operate on the highway. This shows how far they are taking things.

"If you ask FRSC to keep off the township roads, what if accident happened then, who do you call to come and assist the victims.

"I am saying it again, that nobody will intimidate me, because I am here to serve the people of Kaduna state. The state traffic agency is not under my control, but courtesy demands that we work together in the interest of the people.

"But unfortunately, the state traffic agencies, especially in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos are now something else. They are all after revenue generation, and this is contrary to the norms of creating state traffic agencies.

"May be, the Governors are not aware that state traffic agencies are not created to generate revenue for the states, but they are being created to compliment Road Safety where we do not have enough personnel to carry out our responsibilities in the state.

"By Monday, I will be seen controlling traffic within the town, with a good patrol team that will be going from one place to the other; educating the motorists. And I want to see who will confront me and tell me not to carry out my responsibilities. Some people are now mixing politics with safety of lives of Nigerians.

"In other countries, when you talk of security, the next thing is safety of lives, but in Nigeria, safety is being relegated and not seen as important, and this is the reason why within 4 years, we have recorded 59 VIP crashes and nobody is saying anything about it", he added.

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