Stakeholders in the road management sector have decried the habit of overloading of vehicles on the nation’s highways, saying the practice is endangering the lives of passengers and pedestrians.
In a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the stakeholders noted that commercial drivers were the “Chief Culprits”.
Some of them who spoke to NAN in Yola, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Damaturu, Akure, Abeokuta, Ibadan and Dutse, among other towns, blamed the habit on greed and lack of concern for the safety of other road users.
They, however, blamed passengers for being passive in the face of threat to their personal safety, thereby encouraging the practice. In Yola, the Adamawa Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said it impounded no fewer than 300 vehicles in connection with overloading from January 2016 to date.
The Sector Commander of the corps in the state, Mr Adegoke Adetunji, said out of this figure, 90 per cent of the offenders were commercial vehicle drivers.
According to him, most of the vehicles impounded were in rickety condition and therefore, not roadworthy. Alhaji Bello Adamu, the Chairman of Adamawa branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), said the union was making efforts, through sensitisation, to caution members against overloading and speeding.
Adamu said the union was collaborating with the FRSC and state governments in sensitising the commercial vehicle drivers against the act. The Secretary of NURTW in Bauchi, Mr Kasim Kuta, said that his union had been making concerted efforts at sensitising the union’s members to obey traffic rules.
Kuta said that over 5,000 members of the union were being consistently warned to avoid overloading, adding that whoever did not heed to the advice would not be defended if caught by the relevant authorities.
He blamed passengers for being passive, thereby allowing commercial motorists to overload. Mr David Mendie, FRSC Sector Commander in Gombe, said most of those who overloaded their vehicles were drivers of commercial vehicles.
He said offenders were often apprehended and charged to mobile courts but to no avail, warning that overloading was dangerous. Alhaji Ibrahim Bala, Gombe State Chairman of NURTW, said he had been urging his members to always obey traffic rules for their safety and that of passengers.
He said that the union had earlier sensitised members at branch offices and motor parks across the state to the need to be law abiding.
In Jigawa, the FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Mr Angus Ibezim, said that the corps was doing its best to check overloading, particularly by commercial drivers, adding that it was one of the major causes of accidents. “Checking overloading is critical to the activities of FRSC. “We are worried about it, particularly this ‘shootout overloading’ where you see overload that is as long as the vehicle itself,” he said.
Similarly, the Sector Commander of FRSC in Borno, Mr Shehu Iliyasu, decried the habit of reckless driving and overloading by some motorists in the state. Iliyasu told NAN that firewood sellers in pickup vans and those conveying livestock on market days were the worst culprits. “During markets days, you see villagers and animals jam-packed in pick-up vans; this development had resulted in many accidents, with lives lost.
He lamented that punitive measures adopted were no longer serving as deterrent to those committing the crime. “We have been making arrests but they kept repeating same offence. We have now resorted to collaborating with union officials to sanction culprits, a measure that seems to be more effective,” he said.
Also speaking, Malam Bello Maduganari, Chairman of NURTW in Borno, said the union had warned members to obey traffic rules. He said any commercial vehicle drivers caught violating traffic rules would be left to face the consequences of their action. “Most of this people overloading their trucks are not our members; you will notice