The Federal Road Safety Corps has arrested a truck driver after 15 passengers were discovered concealed under a cover on the vehicle during an enforcement operation.
The passengers were found alongside eight motorcycles and other goods inside a Mitsubishi truck marked GDD 815 ZP.
The FRSC Corps Public Education Officer, Osondu Ohaeri, disclosed the development in a statement on Saturday.
Ohaeri said the driver, identified as Umar Muhammadu, was stopped after road safety officials became suspicious of the tightly covered cargo area of the truck.
A subsequent inspection revealed the 15 passengers allegedly hidden among sacks of goods and the motorcycles.
According to the FRSC spokesman, the manner in which the passengers were transported constituted a serious breach of road safety regulations and posed significant danger to their lives as well as other road users.
He added that Muhammadu allegedly attempted to bribe one of the FRSC marshals with N500 during the operation and was also unable to present a valid driver’s licence.
The driver, the truck and its occupants were subsequently handed over to the Divisional Police Officer in Mararaba, CSP M. Daniel, for further investigation and prosecution, following the directive of the Sector Commander, RS7.1 FCT, CC Tijjani Iliyasu.
In a related development in Abia State, a Mobile Court sentenced a commercial driver, Azubuike Dominic, to one month in prison for driving without a valid licence and absconding with an FRSC marshal while being taken to court.
Ohaeri said Dominic was later arrested after FRSC officials, supported by military personnel, pursued him for several kilometres.
The driver was subsequently arraigned before the Mobile Court, presided over by His Worship C. E. Nwankpa, which sentenced him to one month at the Afara Correctional Centre.
The FRSC said the two incidents underscored its determination to curb dangerous driving practices through intelligence-led enforcement and cooperation with other security agencies.
The corps warned commercial transport operators against carrying passengers or motorcycles in concealed and unsafe sections of vehicles, overloading, driving without valid licences and attempting to bribe its personnel.
It further assured that intelligence gathering, enforcement operations and the use of Mobile Courts would remain part of its efforts to improve road safety nationwide.