The Commander and Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, ‘Seni Ogunyemi has warned the residents to desist from blocking roads because of any social gathering.

Ogunyemi said that it is illegal to block roads in the name of organising social gatherings or parties.

The TRACE boss, in a statement on Thursday, explained that it is wrong for residents caught blocking the road when organising parties or social events to say that they have the local and state governments’ permits.

He stressed that It was imperative to curb such lawless behaviour through continuous public enlightenment, pointing out that TRACE officers do more sensitization than enforcement.

Ogunyemi said, “It is illegal to block roads for social parties under sections six and seven of the law which established TRACE. The problem is lawlessness on the part of the people.

“They always say that they got permits from local governments but they do not know that it is only to organise social parties and not block public roads. TRACE must be involved too, to have a free flow of traffic at such social gatherings”.

He explained that the agency was not established purposely to generate revenue but those caught for one offence or another might be referred to other agencies such as the Ministry of Health for psychiatric evaluation.

Ogunyemi also informed that TRACE was empowered to serve on all roads such as Trunks B and C roads which fall under the state governments, as well as Trunk A which are federal roads that link other states.

He said checking vehicle documents falls within the agency’s purview, while ‘stop and search’ is outside their jurisdiction, pointing out that his officers and men were professionals, highly trained to work day and night.

The commander advised motorists in the state “to always plan their journey, manage their time well and not be in haste, use seat belt, avoid making calls while driving, as well as obey traffic laws of the state.” (The PUNCH)