The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, has recalled a patrol team attached to Ikorodu unit to the Lagos State Sector Command for investigation and appropriate disciplinary actions.
This is in reaction to a viral video showing a member of the patrol team clinging to the bonnet of a moving Honda car along the Ikorodu-Sagamu road on July 6, 2020.
The incident happened during a special joint patrol operation targeted at enforcing the Presidential Task Force directives on physical distancing and overloading amongst passengers to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The team had attempted to arrest the driver for seatbelts violation but he failed to stop.
The FRSC Public Education Officer, ACM Bisi Kazeem, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, titled, ‘Marshal on a vehicle bonnet viral video: Corps Marshal orders the prosecution of errant driver, recalls patrol team for investigation.’
The Corps Marshal stated that its officers did not need to commit suicide in the process of arresting an errant driver “because every arrest of an offender is expected to be done within safe and professional limits in line with their training and operational guidelines.”
It said that the driver who abandoned his car and absconded will be arrested and prosecuted.
The statement read, “The Corps Marshal is deeply saddened by the development and has ordered the entire team to be recalled to Lagos State Sector Command for investigation and appropriate disciplinary actions in line with the Corps’ regulations, while the errant driver faces immediate prosecution in a court of competent jurisdiction.
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“It is expedient to state that the Corps’ operational guidelines do not allow personnel to stand in front of any vehicle to effect arrest at the detriment of their own safety while stopping the vehicle.
“For emphasis, a staff member does not need to commit suicide while stopping an offender that is already on a suicide mission, because every arrest of an offender is expected to be done within safe and professional limits in line with their training and operational guidelines and not to unnecessarily put their own lives in danger while attempting to arrest a fleeing offender.
“That is why the Corps has been deploying technology to track all cases of absconding recalcitrant drivers of this nature and bring them to justice.”
