We have extinguishers, spare tyres in our patrol vehicles – FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ondo State Command, has dismissed rumours around on online news that its patrol vehicles had no extinguishers and spare tyres in the state.
Mr Ezekiel SonAllah, State Sector Commander of FRSC, dismissed the allegation in a statement made available to the Newsmen on Tuesday in Akure.
SonAllah, who explained that the command would not have reacted to the claim but for the purpose of setting the record straight for the general public to know the truth.
SonAllah explained that the same safety reasons that made it mandatory for all categories of vehicles to have the two items was also applicable to FRSC vehicles, saying life had no duplicate, including that of FRSC staff.
According to him, “I want to state clearly that all our vehicles must have fire extinguishers and spare tyres before embarking on patrol or any official engagement”.
“On Sunday, RS 11.22 Owo Unit Command patrol team apprehended a man for not having fire extinguisher and was driving without spare tyre.
“And one of the passengers went on social media to maliciously report that there was no fire extinguisher and spare tyre in our patrol vehicle.
“In view of the above, I want to state clearly that the reason why those items were not brought out as requested was not because they were not in the vehicle
“But because the request was not made by the driver who committed the offence but by one of the passengers who was angry because the patrol team turned down their request for the fines to be paid on the road which is a punishable offence,” he said.
According to him, the person who committed the offence was the driver and not the passenger, hence it was not obligatory for the patrol team to have yielded to his demand.
“One can imagine if all the occupants had made similar demands. It should be noted that the offender had since paid his fines.
“Finally, I want to call on motorists to ensure that they have spare tyres in their vehicles in case of tyre burst and fire extinguishers in case of fire incidence,” he said