Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal, Dauda Ali Biu has recalled the Sector Commander of Bauchi State, Mr Yusuf Abdullahi, to the Headquarters in Abuja “with immediate effect”.
Abdullahi is to face “necessary administrative action” for breaching “the FRSC regulations and the Standard Operating Procedures”, according to Bisi Kazeem, Assistant Corps Marshal
Corps Public Education Officer.
Abdullahi had in an interview on Thursday in Bauchi with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) advocated the application of Sharia law to prosecute traffic offenders to stem road crashes in the country.
“Let us introduce Sharia law to tackle road crashes and people will wake up. Our people are too careless, and the vehicle owners don’t bother to check them.
“If we don’t introduce Sharia law, many road users, especially in this area, would not start thinking twice before doing whatever they want to do.
“The introduction of Sharia law will curtail bad behaviour, as most of the crashes are due to negative attitudes by motorists and other road users.
“People don’t want to take a rest; they speed because they want to make money. But if the law is introduced, by the time you are involved in a crash, it would be investigated, the guilty and his family would also be responsible for anything that happens in that vehicle.
“In a situation where the driver lost his life to a crash if found guilty, the owner of the vehicle would also be held responsible as it would be revealed that he didn’t do his homework before giving out the vehicle.
“The extant law is working, however, the extent to which it works is very important because in countries where Sharia law is being implemented, it guides attitudinal conduct to a level that even relatives and friends guide their relations in terms of what to do or not do.
“If stiffer penalties are being attached to road traffic crash offenders, it will go a long way to help us stem all drivers and other road users and make them drive carefully to avoid crashes,” Abdullahi had said in the interview.
But Kazeem, in a statement made available on Saturday to The Shield Online, with the title:
“FRSC DOES NOT SEEK INTRODUCTION OF SHARIA LAW IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF TRAFFIC REGULATIONS” said:
“The Federal Road Safety Corps wishes to dissociate itself from a baseless and unfounded opinion currently published on different news platforms, linking the Corps to seeking the introduction of Sharia Law to compliment existing extant regulations on enforcement of traffic rules and prosecution of offenders.
“The public is to note that the entire statement does not in anyway, reflect the position of the Federal Road Safety Corps.
“The Corps Marshal, Dauda Ali Biu has recalled with immediate effect, the Sector Commander to the National Headquarters Abuja, for necessary administrative action because the Sector Commander through the quoted statements has breached the FRSC regulations and the Standard Operating Procedures
“Without any reservation, it is key to inform the general public that the Federal Road Safety Corps is a Government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria and sensitive to the country’s multi-religious as well as heterogeneous ethnic composition.
“The Corps was founded through Decree No. 45, as amended by Decree 35 of 1992 referred to in the statute books as the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN). The Act was passed by the National Assembly as Federal Road Safety Corps (establishment) Act 2007.
“By this very fact, it is important to clearly posit that the Corps is neither a religious nor sectional organisation, but a Federal Government Agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of an establishment Act; and not a Sharia, Mosaic, customary, canon or any other law whatsoever that contradicts the provisions of it’s establishment Act, or the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Our lead agency role is shielded in our strict compliance with established regulations duly passed by the National Assembly. As such, the public is humbly called to disregard the entire content of the opinion as published because it is outrightly baseless, unfounded and does not apply in our operations and service to the Nigerian people.”