According to Dauda Biu, corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), personnel have been ordered not to enter the vehicles of offenders upon seizure.
Biu made the clarification while dismissing a “wrongly couched” document now making the rounds, according to Bisi Kazeem, FRSC spokeswoman.
The memo in question, according to Kazeem, is related to a directive given to commanding officers calling for a stop to the practice of placing patrol agents in the vehicles of offenders during impoundment.
The initial mandate, according to the spokeswoman, was issued in a memo dated September 12, 2023, with the reference FRSC/HQ/OPS/94/VOLXVI/094.
He stated that the memo was titled: ‘Immediate ban on the putting of personnel in offenders vehicles to escort for Impoundment’.
“This was however, interpreted as a complete ban on the impoundment of vehicles by the corps,” NAN quoted Kazeem as saying.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the corps marshal’s directive was a correction of an earlier one saying impoundment of vehicles have been banned, captured under paragraph III of the aforementioned memo.
“However, the corps marshal only banned placing of staff in offenders vehicles to escort for impoundment by patrol teams under any guise of traffic infraction committed with immediate effect.
“The corps regrets any confusion caused by the earlier memo, and would like to inform the public that the current position of the corps was as outlined in the corrected directive.”