…it has no legal rights on the roads – Court
The Court of Appeal in Asaba, Delta State, has upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court restricting the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, from operating on state and local roads in Nigeria.
Recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Warri had in 2019, ruled that the FRSC can only operate on Federal roads.
It held that the Corps has no legal right to carry out any activity on state and local government roads.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the FRSC challenged the high court’s ruling at the Court of Appeal.
In his ruling on Monday, Justice E. Nwite, dismissed the FRSC’s appeal and restricted the Corps’ operation to only federal roads in different parts of the country.
Reacting to the judgement on Tuesday, the FRSC in a statement shared by the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, on Twitter, said the commission would appeal the judgment of the Appeal Court.
The Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dauda Biu, stated that the judgment of the Appeal Court implies that officials of the FRSC would no longer rescue crash victims on roads other than federal roads.
He said, “As soon as we obtain the copy of the judgement, we would take time to look at it and make an informed decision on it. Until then, we urge the public to remain calm.”
In a Statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, noted that the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, said the agency would also seek a stay of execution of the judgment.
He said, “Pursuant to the judgment passed by the Court of Appeal sitting in Asaba, Delta State in Appeal No. CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC and Darlington Ugo Ehikim, wherein the Federal Road Safety Commission operations were restricted to only federal roads, the Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, has stated the intention of the corps to seek a stay of execution as well as appeal the decision of the court.”
He said the commission had yet to get a copy of the judgment, but “we are aware of the judgment of the Court of Appeal Asaba Judicial Division from the briefing received from our legal representatives. However, as of the moment, we are yet to obtain a Certified True Copy of the judgment.
“As soon as we obtain the same, we would take time to look at the judgment and make an informed decision on it. Until then, we urge the public to remain calm,” Kazeem said.
