Mr. Samuel Obayemi, the Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Enugu Zone, has urged road users to always obey traffic rules and regulations while driving to avoid crashes.
Obayemi gave the advice during an aerial surveillance on road network on Friday in Enugu.
The heavy traffic situation along ninth mile road on Dec. 30 gave rise to the surveillance exercise.
He said “we could have avoided the heavy traffic jam experienced along ninth mile on Dec. 30 if people had just obeyed traffic rules and regulations and are patient.
“We discovered that the traffic jam occurred because a lot of people just refused to comply with the traffic regulations.’’
The commander said the aerial surveillance carried out enabled the corps to develop a more efficient strategy to ensure free flow of traffic during the New Year holiday.
According to him, the surveillance covered Enugu to ninth mile and Awka to the bridge head in Onitsha, Anambra State.
“Apart from what we do on ground, we have taken a step further from the sky; this has helped us to identify where we have gaps in the course of controlling traffic on the roads.
“We are now better equipped to instruct our men on ground for better organised traffic flow,’’ he said.
Obayemi commended the Nigeria Air Force for releasing its helicopter to FRSC for the purpose of the surveillance.
He said “there has been increased synergy between FRSC and the Air Force; in fact, the helicopter used for this exercise was released to us by the Nigerian Air Force.’’
In his remarks, Air Commander Paul Dimfwina, said it was the responsibility of the Nigerian Air Force to aid any government organisation toward carrying out its functions.
“It is our responsibility to assist any government agency whenever they require our help to actualise their mandate.
“Our contribution to the FRSC is to make sure that the roads are safe and traffic flows freely,’’ Dimfwina said.