No fewer than 396 vehicles conveying over 2,422 passengers in its 12 Zonal Commands across Nigeria have been arrested by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
Mr Bisi Kazeem, FRSC’s Public Education Officer (CPEO), disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Kazeem said that the arrest was made for indiscriminate violation of Presidential directives on physical distancing in vehicles.
According to him, the highest number of arrests were recorded in Rivers, Enugu and Kwara states, while Ekiti and Niger States recorded the least number of arrests.
Kazeem gave the breakdown of the arrests as Rivers 67, Enugu 48, Kwara 47, Sokoto 37, Adamawa 36, Delta 31 and Oyo 23.
“Others are; Kaduna and Bauchi with 16 arrests each, Ebonyi 14 while Lagos and Ondo recorded a total of 11 arrests each.
“Ekiti state where the least number of arrest was successfully carried out recorded 1 arrest while Niger followed with 2 arrests.
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“It was gathered that out of the 396 vehicles arrested, 343 were impounded for conveying a total of 2,442 passengers which completely violates the physical distancing order.
“While the remaining 63 vehicles were arrested for overloading the vehicles with goods,” he said.
Kazeem revealed that out of the 2,442 commuters, 927 were discharged from the vehicles to make room for spacing and distancing among the passengers.
Kazeem disclosed the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, commitment towards helping the PTF bring down the curve of the rising pandemic in the country.
He also said that the Corps helping in enforcing compliance in that regard was key to containinh the spread of the virus.
He charged the Commanding Officers to sustain the tempo and intensify efforts to ensure that motorists were compelled to comply with Presidential directives.
The directives were on both the social distancing and inter states boundaries restrictions on movement.
He, however, called on the motoring public to avoid boarding overloaded vehicle and also warned commercial drivers to desist from such violations or face the wrath of the law.
