FRSC TO SEND N100M INVOICE TO NUPENG OVER DAMAGED VEHICLE

The Federal Road Safety on Wednesday said it would send an invoice to the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, over one of its operational vehicle – a recovery vehicle – damaged by a tanker driver on Saturday.
Speaking in Abuja, the corps marshal, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, said, “We are going to send an invoice to NUPENG on this, World Bank gave us seven of this vehicles, the largest of them.”
Mr. Oyeyemi said the vehicle damaged cost about N100 million and was donated to the corps by the World Bank. He said it was
important that the union produce the owner of the tanker involved in the crash in order to take responsibility of the damages caused.
The recovery vehicle belonging to the FRSC was damaged in an auto crash with a tanker along Benin-Ore Road.
Speaking on the incident, NUPENG president, Achese Igwe, asked if the vehicle was insured as he said it was hard to believe that a vehicle worth such an amount would not be insured by the corps.
The corps marshal added that out of 2, 000 road crashes, 4.11 per cent are caused by tankers.
He called on NUPENG, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, and others, to ensure the success of efforts made by the corps to enforce the use of speed limiting device by tanker drivers, which limits speed to 60 kilometres per hour for tankers.
“Your standard must be applicable to all not just for the major oil marketers; we must ensure that the same standards are replicated and ensure others are governed by this,” Mr. Oyeyemi said.
Oyeyemi reiterated the need for retraining of the tanker drivers, medical checks and the use of retro-reflective tapes on taker vehicles.
“Majority of these tankers are over 30 years and we cannot compromise on this. There must be prosecution of drivers and vehicle owners found wanting,” he said.
Also, the executive secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Thomas Olawore, said it is necessary that issues of underage drivers be accessed by the corps, he assured the corps marshal of total compliance of necessary policies that will be put in place to reduce the carnage on Nigerian roads.
Mr. Olawore said the corps must put into consideration, the excesses of touts popularly known as “area boys” on the roads.