Enough is enough says FRSC Corp Marshal on incessant attacks on personnel

ITRealms:

The Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has condemned the unprovoked attacks and molestation of operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on the highways and vowed to prosecute all those involved, declaring that enough is enough, reports ITRealms.

Speaking through the Corps Public Education Officer at FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, Corps Marshal said this has become pertinent on the heels of the recent shooting of two FRSC staff and the detention of another in a Police facility in Abia State.

“Many road users are abusing the civility of the unarmed personnel that are trained to be cautious while discharging their legitimate duties. In the past, many FRSC operatives had been abducted, killed, assaulted, ran over, threatened and shot. It is also disheartening that some of the attackers misinformed the unsuspecting public by releasing manipulated information to gain public sympathy. Attempts are often made to make the aggressors looked like the victims," Oyeyemi said.

Also, the Corps Marshal said the FRSC remains the nation’s lead agency on road traffic administration and safety management empowered to arrest and prosecute erring motorists. Stressing that, “Section 10 (4) of the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007 states categorically that members of the Corps shall have powers to arrest and prosecute persons reasonably suspected to have committed any traffic offence. Resistance based on ignorance of the law or impunity can no longer be grounds to attack operatives carrying out their lawful duties. We will definitely not abdicate our statutory responsibilities."

He recalled that the Abia incident which occurred on Saturday, July 15, 2017, saw his men being shot at.

According to FRSC Corps Marshal, “While we commend the Abia State Police Commissioner for swiftly directing the arrest and orderly room trial of the Policemen who shot the FRSC staff at Aro Ngwa along the Enugu – Port Harcourt expressway last Saturday, the Corps is deeply saddened by the shooting. It is also greatly concerned that the two young men were abandoned with their gun wounds by the Policemen attached to the wife of the Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly who shot them. Obviously, they were left to die at the scene by these Policemen who are also employees of government.”

He expressed thanks to the road users that assisted the two injured and abandoned staff to the hospital, and hopeful the two victims, still undergoing treatment will not suffer life-threatening injuries.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Rivers re-run: INEC, enough is enough

Commentary@ITRealms:

Further excuses would not be entertained from the Independent National Electoral Commission on the Rivers State rerun polls, writes Ifeanyi Omokwe.

There is an evil under the sun against citizens in 21 state and 9 federal constituencies of Rivers State and Nigeria in general. For the past six months, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has engaged in a dangerous game of Russian roulette by denying the people of Rivers State their constitutional right to have representatives to advance their cause at both the state and federal legislatures.

Over the course of the past six months, the INEC had hinged the excuse for its inability to conduct rerun election to fill the vacant legislative seats on insecurity in Rivers State. It would be recalled that since it held the first rerun on March 19, 2016, the commission has continued to dilly-dally and make up excuses, as ridiculous as they come, as to why holding elections in Rivers state is untenable for now.

In one of its press releases, the electoral body explained that, “Some of the State/Federal Constituencies and Senatorial seats are inconclusive as a result of reports of election cancellations and elections not conducted for reasons of serious violence in some units and registration areas.”

One can vouchsafe that those that accuse the commission of pandering to certain interests in Abuja are not far from the truth. If it were not so, how can one reason that those behind violence in Rivers State, if any, are more powerful than federal might, that credible and fair elections cannot be guaranteed? The Rivers experience lends much credence to the fact that the INEC as presently constituted is an evil conclave that portends grave danger to democratic governance in the country.

It is now a certainty that those, who fear losing out completely in the power matrix in Rivers State and have some measure of federal influence because they are part of the present regime are not bothered if millions of Rivers indigenes and Nigerians that live in the state, make their living and pay taxes both to the federal and state governments do not have representatives that can represent their aspirations and help in making good laws for growth and development of the state.

Unfortunately so, INEC has allowed itself to become part of the unholy alliance against a constitutional requirement and globally acclaimed democratic norm: representative democracy.

It will not be far-fetched to note that the posturing of the electoral commission on the imaginary insecurity in Rivers State could be one of the reasons that the United States recently listed some states in Nigeria as dangerous and should be stayed clear off by Americans except for very critical assignments.

While the conclusion of the United States is not entirely true, especially as it pertains to Rivers State and most part of the country except for the insurgency ravaged North East, institutions of state like the INEC fuel such assumptions when they fail to carry out their constitutional functions.

It is a good thing the federal government came out to contradict the Americans on that ground and this, one finds very interesting. If the federal government has given an assurance of safety in majority of the states, from where does the commission gets its report that holding election in Rivers is untenable because of insecurity?

The irony of INEC’s claim is that the more it holds to this untenable argument, the more conferences of notable associations are held in the Garden City without the imaginary security breach, which has become the singsong of the commission. Over the course of the past months, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Bar Association, judges and their likes have held their annual conferences in Port Harcourt without any major security breach.

To continue to use the insecurity angle as the excuse for denying the people of Rivers of full complement of legislative representation is an affront on their citizenship rights to have representatives at the various assemblies.

Besides that, this same INEC has held elections in Kogi State, which is known for some notorious crimes. If anything, Kogi has been constantly in the news for high profile banditry, kidnappings, robberies and terrorism-related issues, yet the INEC was able to conduct rerun elections.

Come September 10, this excuse-giving INEC would be holding elections in Edo State even when the newspapers have constantly reported deteriorating security situation in the state. Doctors, nurses and the general populace have had to protest the kidnapping of their members in Edo, yet this by no means would stand in the way of the commission to do what is right by the Edo people.

All of these pale into insignificance when the Bayelsa poll is taken into cognizance. The evidence of how militarised the governorship rerun election was remains clear to all. The level of violence was not orchestrated by the people, rather the security forces working in consort with the INEC in a bid to truncate the collective will of Bayelsans.

In a way, the electoral body has conspired to abort the will of the Rivers people by continually insisting on not holding an already overdue poll in the 21 state and nine federal constituencies.

In case the INEC has forgotten, it should be reminded that Nigeria runs as a representative democracy and this demands of it to allow constituents to elect officials, who should decide on their behalf. But not doing so is to deny the people their legitimacy to hold the present government accountable and ensure that their rights and privileges as citizens of Nigeria are guaranteed.

Further, the Rivers people have lost their “voice” to engage with other parts of Nigeria in reaching consensus on matters of federalism and moving the country forward simply because the INEC has proved incapable of staying impartial.

The Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission, which has displayed a stark capacity for incompetence still has a golden opportunity to redeem its already soiled reputation by engaging robustly with security agencies and set a firm date for the completion of election in Rivers State so that the people can indeed have full representation and know they are part of a federal state.

If elections could be conducted in insurgency ravaged North East in 2015, why can’t elections be held in state that has barely a fraction of the insecurity challenges in other parts of the country.

-Contributed by Ifeanyi Omokwe of The Gazetter Newspaper

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