The Cross River State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps has prosecuted 149 road users for being in possession of fake or expired driving licence while plying the highways.
Also included in the category of those prosecuted by mobile courts across the state were those who plied the roads without possessing driving licences.
The state Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr. Ikechukwu Igwe, stated this in Calabar on Thursday while decorating 15 senior officers of the command that were recently promoted by the commission.
The beneficiaries included the acting Head of Ikom Unit Command, Mr. Lucky Omorogbe, who got elevated to Superintendent Route Commander; the Head of Special Marshal and Partnership, Mr. Charles Isaiah (Route Commander) and Head of Public Enlightenment and Protocol, Mr. Festus Ndemele (Route Commander), among others.
According to the sector commander, the 149 defaulting drivers are those prosecuted by the mobile courts September to October.
Igwe said he was moved to carry out critical search on drivers after noticing the bad habits exhibited by them, especially those using their vehicles for commercial purposes, in Calabar and environ.
He said, “When I came to Calabar as sector commander in July, I was disturbed over the way the drivers were driving. The way they park, the way they stop suddenly in front of you not minding how narrow the road may be or not minding if they were constituting traffic congestion.
“That was how we started checking their licences and discovered that a lot of the drivers had either fake or expired licences. There were those who also did not have the licence at all, yet they were driving on the highway. So far, 149 of them have been prosecuted between September and October and we shall sustain the tempo.”
Igwe charged the newly promoted officers to be ready to carry more responsibilities, adding that the commission might not hesitate to demote any errant official.
“Promotion calls for extra duties and challenges. If you do not live up to expectation, you might be demoted. So, you have to be very careful in the discharge of your duties,” he warned.
