Motorists arrested for certain traffic offences in Abuja will be made to undergo mandatory medical and psychological evaluation before prosecution, the FCT Administration and the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, have said.
The measure is part of a sustained joint enforcement operation launched across the territory to tackle traffic light violations, driving against traffic, excessive overloading, illegal parking and other offences contributing to congestion and endangering road users.
The FRSC FCT Sector Commander, Corps Commander Tijjani Iliyasu, disclosed this on Thursday during a joint press briefing at the FCT Command Conference Hall, Abuja.
Iliyasu said the evaluation was provided for under Regulation 176, Sub-regulation (5) of the amended National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, adding that applicable offenders would bear the cost of the medical and psychological assessment.
He said the command was particularly concerned about excessive overloading, traffic light violations, route violations, including driving against traffic, and indiscriminate parking.
“This measure is intended to address dangerous driving behaviour, promote responsible road use, and protect lives and property.
“It is not designed to harass or intimidate members of the public.
“Traffic regulations are established primarily to protect lives and property, and compliance is the responsibility of every road user,” Iliyasu stated.
The enforcement is being carried out jointly by the FCTA, FRSC and other relevant agencies, with officials saying the operation became necessary following increasing disregard for traffic regulations across Abuja.
Mandate Secretary of the FCTA Transportation Secretariat, Chinedum Elechi, said the expansion and rehabilitation of roads across the FCT had improved mobility but also created new traffic management challenges.
He said some motorists had taken advantage of the improved road infrastructure to disregard traffic rules and regulations.
“In response, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps and other relevant agencies, has intensified joint traffic enforcement patrols across the FCT,” Elechi said.
He listed the major targets of the operation as traffic light violations, route violations and unauthorised use of restricted routes, including driving against traffic, as well as illegal parking on major roads, at junctions, under bridges and on pedestrian crossings.
Elechi warned that motorists and commercial transport operators arrested during the exercise would face sanctions under the National Road Traffic Regulations 2012 and the FCT Road Traffic Regulations 2023.
“We are extremely happy to have this special collaboration with the Sector Command of the FCT. I think this is the first time that we’re having this kind of collaboration,” he said.
He said the joint operation involving the FCT Security Department, Traffic Control Department, FRSC and other agencies would help restore sanity to traffic management in Abuja.
The authorities also linked the enforcement to broader security concerns, particularly the activities of some commercial transport operators using unauthorised routes and loading points.
Peter Olumuji, who represented the Director of the FCT Security Services Department, Adamu Gwary, said traffic violations could have direct security implications for the capital.
He specifically raised concerns about commercial operators, including tricycle and motorcycle riders, and their use of unauthorised routes and loading points.
“From the security perspective, we also understand that it has its own negative implications when people violate traffic regulations.”
He said the authorities’ concerns were also linked to security challenges in the FCT, including “one chance” robbery and other violent crimes.
Olumuji stressed the importance of an effective transportation system to security in any city.
“There is no way in any city, in any nation, that you talk about better security without having an annexed, short width, a good transportation system. And that is why we are here today,” he said.
He assured residents that security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, DSS, would support the enforcement exercise and ensure it was conducted within the confines of the law.
The joint enforcement exercise is expected to continue across strategic locations in the FCT as the authorities step up efforts to reduce traffic violations, improve vehicular movement and protect lives and property.
