The House of Representatives has denied reports that it has approved firearms for members of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The House Committee on FRSC, at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, said it only expressed concerns over the safety of members of the corps.
The Corps Marshall, Boboye Oyeyemi, had earlier appeared before the committee to defend the 2021 budget proposed by the FRSC, where he lamented the threats to officers of the corps.
At the meeting, the lawmakers suggested that members of the corps should bear arms to curtail the excesses of road users in the country.
On Monday, Chairman of the committee, Mr Mayowa Akonfolarin, said, “We were with the Federal Road Safety Corps for budget defence and in that meeting, it was clearly stated that as a responsive representative, we owe it a duty to protect lives and properties on our roads.
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“The Marshal made some reports concerning the harassment, molestations, killings of his corps officers and we responded as a committee; a committee that is very responsive and sensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
“We made it clear that we owe it a duty to ensure safety on our roads. The road safety people and road users are all Nigerians and it is our responsibility – it is an issue of two sides of a coin – that the personnel of the road safety must be protected. And we made it clear in that meeting that safety on our roads is a collective responsibility.
“We are not saying road safety should carry arm or not; what we are saying is (that) if you have a law, what should be done is to call for amendment. Once you have that amendment, there will be public hearing, at the hearing, the people will be able to make their contributions where necessary.”
