Abuja – The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, said 2, 257 traffic offenders were arraigned in various mobile courts across the country in 2015.
Oyeyemi disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news briefing on the 2015 Special Ember Months Patrol and the 2016 strategic goals of the Commission.
He said that out of the 2,257 offenders arraigned, 2,025 (89.7 per cent) were convicted with an option of fine, while seven offenders (0.3 per cent) were imprisoned and 225 (10 per cent), were discharged.
The Corps Marshal said that the record represented a four per cent increase in the number of people arraigned by the commission, convictions with option of fine by 2.5 per cent and imprisonment by 85.7 per cent over the records of 2014.
“2, 171 offenders were arraigned in 2014 compared to the 2, 257 in 2015, 1,975 convicted with option of fine in 2014 compared to 2,025 in 2015, while only one person was imprisoned in 2014 compared to the seven in 2015.
“398 people were involved in road traffic crashes in 2015 compared to the 439 in 2014, while 301 died in 2015 compared to the 257 in 2014,’’ Oyeyemi said.
On the issue of the Speed Limiting Device (SLD) for commercial vehicles, he said there was no going back on the April 1 enforcement date as most of the crashes were as a result of speeding and dangerous overtaking.
He said that the Corps would collaborate with state governments and other stakeholders to ensure safer roads and less crashes in line with international best practice.
“ The Corps worked assiduously in 2015 to bring down the rate of road traffic crashes nationwide by 13 per cent, as road crashes reduced from 10,380 in 2014 to 9,031 in 2015.
“ In similar vein, deaths from road crashes reduced nationwide by 16 per cent from 5,991 in 2014 to 5,044 deaths in 2015,’’ he said.
He decried the activities of some reckless drivers who knocked down men of the commission in the course of their duty and warned that the Corps would arrest and sanction such offenders.
