We Don’t Compel Offenders To Pay Fines—FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has emphatically stressed that the agency does not force traffic offenders to pay fines for alleged offences committed on the road.

This information was revealed by the FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, at a chat with some Editors in Lagos recently.

Several times, motorists have bitterly complained about how officials of the Corps treat them whenever they are caught for traffic offences.

Also, some Nigerians have alleged that the FRSC was only interested in making money via fines and not concerned about safety on the roads.

It would be recalled that a motorist, Kabir Akingbola, in a suit filed against the FRSC, had gone to court to determine whether the Corps had the requisite powers to impose fines summarily on the traffic offenders without being tried by a judicial tribunal?

However, Oyeyemi told the journalists that traffic offenders were at the liberty of paying their fines or going to court to challenge their alleged offence.

The Corps chief explained that, “FRSC does not compel traffic offenders to pay fines for offenses they commit. Our men only issue notice of offense, and the offender is at liberty to either waive his right to court trial by paying, or go to court to contest the offence.”

FRSC was established by the Federal Government in 1988 with the statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria. It operates in all states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where it has its headquarters.