WorldStage Newsonline– The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed has applauded the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede for what he described as his giant strides in the anti-corruption fight.
He gave the plaudits on Tuesday when he led the management team of the Corps on a courtesy visit to Olukoyede at EFCC’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
While appreciating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Olukoyede, Mohammed noted that the commitment of the EFCC boss in the fight against corruption was unmatched in the history of the Commission with manifest evidence to prove the commitment.
“I appreciate Mr President for your appointment. Your tenacity and commitment to excellence and the rule of law in the fight against corruption is unmatched and I can see the evidence everywhere. We are humbled and happy to be here. The warm reception and the way you do things here meets the global best practice. I have not seen this in any agency both public and private. We shall continue to take advantage of these values in our agency. We will continue to pray for you for good health, capacity and wisdom to enable you to deliver the best for our country,” he said.
Mohammed disclosed that the mission of the visit was to seek collaboration with the EFCC in the aspect of road safety management that has to do with economic crime.
“Accidents are the major cause of death in Nigeria. Globally there are over 1.91 million accident deaths annually. It has a social and devastating impact on countries, especially to families.
“Because of this we need to have a preventive approach to reduce and fight it. That is why we are here to seek collaboration to fight some of the accidents, especially in Nigeria where an average of almost 6000 deaths occur annually.
“Most of the causes of these accidents happen with trucks, tankers and trailers that carry animals and petrol, now resorting to conveying almost 100 people at a time in them. When they crash, almost everyone perishes. So if we collaborate, we will declare the owners of such trucks wanted and charge them for economic crime. If we create safety values we will reduce cost of security,” he said.
In his response, Olukoyede congratulated the Corps Marshal on his appointment and assured him of EFCC’s readiness to collaborate with him in the protection and service of Nigerians.
“There are sacrifices we have to make to get the job done. Our mandates are similar, so I share your sentiments on the protection of lives on our roads.
“We don’t only fight financial crimes alone, we also fight economic sabotage. If a truck that is meant to carry goods gets involved in an accident, carrying passengers, there can be loss of lives and properties.
“That is part of economic sabotage. So, where there are such situations that you feel we can work together, we are ready to collaborate with you.
“I will connect you with my team to see the areas where we can collaborate and come up with a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, that will enable us to work better.
“Even in the area of illegal mining, you can see that illegal miners in trying to escape with their trucks often end up causing accidents.
“Let’s look into those areas where we can help each other,” he said.
