FRSC convicts 62 motorists in Jos

The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in Plateau State has convicted 62 motorists of various traffic offences in Jos.

The Public Education Officer of the commission in the state, Andrew Bala, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday that the offenders were arrested during a mobile court proceedings carried out by its officers on May 7.

He said the exercise took place on some highways within Jos-Bukuru metropolis.

According to him, mobile court has become a veritable tool that the corps uses to curtail the many anomalies on highways to reduce road traffic crashes.
“Our men on patrol actually arrested 63 motorists but one was discharged and acquitted while 62 were found guilty and convicted.

“We mostly use the mobile courts these days because we feel there is the need to give motorists fair hearing, and for me it is a better deal,” he said.

He added that the most prevalent offences were overloading, use of worn-out tyres, vehicle licence violation and driver’s licence violation.
Others include use of phone while driving, seatbelt violation and lack of caution signs.
 

Mr. Bala further explained that none of the convicted motorists were imprisoned; adding that another reason for the mobile court exercise was to rid highways of under-age drivers.

He assured the public that officers and men of the command would make the mobile court exercise as a routine measure to checkmate the excesses of drivers on highways.

Nigeria bans unauthorised use of drones

[Photo: cnn.com]

 

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has banned the launching of Remotely Piloted Aircraft, RPA, in the Nigerian airspace without its permit and that of the Office of National Security Adviser, ONSA.

This is contained in a statement issued by the General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Sunday in Lagos.

The statement said the move was part of the safety guidelines issued by the regulatory agency to drone operators following the proliferation of the technology in the country.

“In recent times, RPA/UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are being deployed for commercial and recreational purposes in the country without adequate security clearance.

“Therefore with the preponderance of these operations, particularly in a non-segregated airspace, there has to be proactive safety guidelines.

“The development of the use of RPA nationwide has emerged with somewhat predictable safety concerns and security threats.”

According to the statement, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is yet to publish Standards and Recommended Practices, SARPs, as far as certification and operation of civil use of RPA is concerned.

The statement said the NCAA had therefore put in place Regulations/Advisory Circular to guide the certification and operations of civil RPA in the Nigerian airspace.

It said this was contained in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs 2015 Part 8.8.1.33) and the Implementing Standards (Nig.CARs 2015 Part IS.8.8.1.33).

“Therefore, no government agency, organisation or an individual will launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining requisite permit from the NCAA and ONSA.

“The NCAA wishes to reiterate that all applicants and holders of permits to operate RPA/Drones must strictly be guided by safety guidelines.

“In addition, operators must ensure strict compliance with the conditions stipulated in their permits and the requirements of the Nig. CARs,” the statement said.

It added that violators would be sanctioned according to the dictates of the new rules.
(NAN)