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FRSC Personnel Attacked By Policemen Driving Against Traffic
Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, personnel were attacked and threatened with a gun on Monday.
This happened when they asked some policemen driving against traffic to turn back and use their rightful lane.
Also, a mobile phone with which one of them was recording the incident was smashed by one of the policemen.
Reacting, the Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has vowed to prosecute the offending policemen, who were said to be escorting VIPs.
The incident, according to the Sector Commander, FRSC Lagos, Olusegun Ogungbemide, occurred at Ibafo, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos.
The FRSC boss did not disclose the names of the VIPs. However, he vowed that the policemen who pointed guns at the FRSC officers would be prosecuted. He would be prosecuted for traffic violation and assault.
The Sector Commander, FRSC Lagos, Olusegun Ogungbemide, made this known on Tuesday.
Narrating what led to the attack, the Sector Commander said: “Following the traffic gridlock caused by one-way driving by some police escort of VIPs at Ibafo area on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at about 7a.m., on Monday, the policemen attacked FRSC operatives from Ibafo Outpost, who were trying to ease the gridlock.
“The FRSC personnel noticed a standstill traffic situation on the outward Lagos section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Our personnel made effort to track the cause of the heavy movement.
“They discovered that it was caused by a convoy of four vehicles with police escort at Mountain Top University area. They were driving against the flow of traffic, thereby causing gridlock within the narrowed lane.
“The FRSC team led by the outpost head approached the police operatives, insisted that the vehicles turn back and follow their rightful lanes.
“But the drivers and the escort refused to obey. Rather one of the policemen pointed his rifle at our men and threatened to shoot.
“Also another of the policemen, who sighted a Marshal who was recording the happenings around the scene, rushed to the Marshal with his rifle, snatched the phone and smashed it on the road, damaging it completely.
“Eventually, the policemen realised that the FRSC operatives weren’t going to give in. They arrogantly turned back and followed the right lane.
“It is a known fact that the high echelon of all agencies is never in support of the misconduct of these disgruntled few.”
Ogungbemide also warned that this lawlessness will no longer be accepted and promised to prosecute any security operative who attacks any of its personnel while discharging their lawful duties to safeguard lives on the roads. He advised motorists to desist from driving against the flow of traffic, and to always adhere to traffic rules and regulations.
