The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) says it will deploy 36,000 personnel to highways across the country for patrol to ensure safety during the Yuletide.
FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi made the staff strength known on Wednesday during a familiarisation visit to the FRSC command in Minna, Niger.
Oyeyemi said 21,000 Regular Marshals and 15,000 Special Marshals would be deployed for the assignment as a measure to ensure that road accidents are reduced to the barest minimum during the period.
The corps marshal also said that there would be 200 mobile courts at strategic points on the highways to try traffic offenders during the period.
“We are going to deploy 21,000 personnel and 15,000 Special Marshals for the Yuletide period to ensure safety on our roads. Any traffic offence will be meted out with maximum punishment; you can be convicted and sent to prison or fined depending on the case, ‘’ he said.
“We have concluded arrangements and ready to carry out the task, but expecting additional logistics promised by President Muhammadu Buhari to enable us surpass last year’s record. We did well last year; so, our aim this year is to surpass it,’’ he added.
While advising motorists to plan their journey to reduce accident, Oyeyemi urged them to maintain and ensure that their vehicles were road worthy before embarking on a trip.
“Motorists should not overload their vehicles and should also not travel at night because of security situation to ensure hitch-free journey,’’ he said.
-NAN
