Motorists in Kano State have lamented over the multiplicity of traffic agencies who harass them daily.
The motorists raised concern over what they termed multiple demands on a single issue by different road-related agencies. They lamented how men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Directorate of Road Traffic/Vehicle Inspection Office (VIOs), Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA) and the police constantly demanded the same documents at different points thereby confusing them on the jurisdictions and mandates of the agencies.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that each of the agencies has its own jurisdiction and mandate – where it is expected to operate without interfering with other agencies’ jurisdictions and mandates.
However, the motorists claimed that they had been facing duplication of issues regarding who did what in terms of vehicle documentation, fines, sanctions and inspection, as they kept encountering the same demands from the various agencies.
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A commercial driver, Ali Ahmad Jirgi, explained that he was on the verge of renewing his vehicle’s documents after their expiration by two days when he was stopped by VIOs on the Eastern Bypass.
He said the VIOs filled an inspection form for his vehicle, after which he renewed his papers at the state’s Internal Revenue Service and took them back to the VIO office in Sharada, but that his car was seized and he was asked to pay a certain amount of money because officials of the VIO said it was their mandate to certify road worthiness and not the revenue agency.
He explained, “When I went to submit my renewed vehicle documents, the VIOs detained my vehicle, claiming that the road worthiness that I had obtained from the Internal Revenue Office ought to have been issued by them since they were the ones that filled the inspection form. I had to part with some amount of money before my car was released to me.”
Similarly, on the issue of driver’s license, the motorists revealed that the VIOs issued interim licence to last three months and a joint team of FRSC, revenue service and VIO issued the permanent licence.
However, while the VIOs recognise the interim license, the FRSC, as well as the police don’t.
Similarly, an official of the FRSC announced that VIO/state traffic management agencies did not have power to impound overloaded vehicles and arrest traffic offenders.
However, in a statement issued and signed on behalf of FRSC’s national headquarters by Deputy Corps Marshal, Bisi Kazeem, the corps dissociated itself from the claim. The statement revealed that it is important for the public to know that the laws establishing VIOs/State Traffic Management Agencies give them the statutory mandate to make arrests on different offences depending on the state within which they operate. As such, the agencies should be given the maximum cooperation for the enhancement of safety on our roads.
The statement reads in part: “On this note, and in line with sustaining the corps’ resolve that road safety is a collective responsibility, and in acknowledgement of the roles the State Traffic Management Agencies like the VIOs play in complementing the statutory responsibilities of the FRSC through enforcement of traffic laws, the corps marshal has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the unit commander to the national headquarters for necessary administrative and disciplinary actions.”
Meanwhile, the agencies concerned were contacted in an attempt to clear the air, and the Managing Director (MD) of KAROTA, Engineer Faisal Mahmud Kabir, explained that KAROTA was working with other related agencies in harmony, adding that though their schedules of duties were sometimes interwoven, his was handling the matter with caution to avoid clashes.
Similarly, the Kano State Deputy Director of VIO, Lawal Abdulrahman Fagge, revealed that role of the VIO was to inspect vehicles, drivers, among other issues, and impound vehicles found wanting and place them off the road.
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