FRSC, NBA partner to seek compensation for auto-crash victims
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) is collaborating with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to ensure compensation for road crash victims and prosecution of drivers and their employers whose activities on the road lead to the injury of road users.
In a statement released on Tuesday, April 4, the Corps spokesman, Bisi Kazeem, stated that the partnership is a concerted effort to ensure that victims of road crashes are duly compensated through established legal processes.
Bisi said the organisations finalized the agreement to collaborate during a courtesy visit of the Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN).
The statement stressed that the two organizations have an antecedent of partnership towards ensuring compensation for victims of accident.
The FRSC boss said the organization has secured a Memorandum of Understanding with the Femi Falana Chambers aimed at prosecuting drivers and their employers during the prosecution of the driver who killed a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Professor Festus Iyayi.
The statement stressed the need to leverage on the national strength of the NBA to ensure swift prosecution of drivers and adequate compensation for victims.
According to the statement, the partnership is important to bring to an end the current reign of impunity on roads by ensuring that any driver whose actions or inactions led to the loss of lives or injuries of other road users was made to face the wrath of the law.
The FRSC boss further urged the NBA President to play a proactive role by constituting a team of lawyers that will aid in stemming the tide by filing civil actions against the concerned drivers and their employers.
The Corps Marshall also requested the intervention of the NBA President in reshaping the erroneous position of some state governments that insist that the FRSC lacks the powers to operate on state roads.
According to the FRSC boss, some state high courts had given judgment against the Corps to the effect of lack of jurisdiction.
The Committee set up by the partnership would be headed by Barrister O.A Sule, SAN, has the Association’s branch chairmen in Suleja, Gwagwalada, Keffi, Bwari, Kwali and Abuja Municipal Area Council as members.
Other members of the committee include the Corps Legal Adviser and some members of the FRSC legal team.
