The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Sector Command, said it impounded 1,460 vehicles for violating COVID-19 guidelines against overloading in the state between April and June.
The Sector Commander, Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
Ogungbemide said the command had started the tour of motor parks in the state to monitor and sensitise transport operators to enhance adherence to COVID-19 public transport guidelines.
“We have been able to clamp down on 576 drivers in Lagos for overloading of vehicles with passengers and goods.
“We also arrested 827 drivers for overloading their vehicles with passengers against COVID-19 protocols.
“In all, we have arrested a total of 1,460 between April and June for overloading.
“Road users should know that FRSC will not condone anything that will enhance the spread of COVID-19 pandemic through land transport that happens to be under the purview of the corps.
“We are not going to compromise our enforcement,’’ he told NAN.
Ogungbemide enjoined commuters to support the corps and the nation in the efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic.
“So, in order for the commuters not to get themselves involved in unnecessary inconvenience through enforcement by our men, they should desist from boarding an overloaded vehicle.
“We are also pleading with transport stakeholders, especially transport unions, to try and comply with the COVID-19 protocols by reducing the passengers they carry to 50 per cent capacity of their vehicles.
“Transport unions and other stakeholders must make sure that drivers, conductors and passengers use face masks.
“There should also be water and soup at their terminals and motor parks with sanitisers.’’
He said that the corps’ tour of motor parks, which began on Friday, would be a continuous exercise to ensure that all motor parks comply with guidelines for the prevention of coronavirus.
