By Joshua Egbodo
Abuja
House of Representatives has called on the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to enforce the use of pedestrian bridges on the nation’s highways.
Adopting a motion moved by Johnson Oghuma (Edo-APC) yesterday, the House asked the Inspector-General of Police and the Commandant-General of the NSCDC to, as a matter of urgency, deploy their personnel at various points on the highways where the pedestrian bridges were located to enforce their use and also provide security on the bridges.
Oghuma noted that pedestrians still prefer to cross the highways directly rather than using the pedestrian bridges, thereby endangering their lives.
“There is little or no enforcement mechanism to compel pedestrians to use the bridges and if drastic measures are not taken to enforce adherence to the use of pedestrian bridges, the trend will likely continue and more lives will be lost through pedestrians being knocked down by speeding vehicles,” he said.
He also noted that the advantages of these bridges as safety measures for pedestrians.
Adopting the motion, the House urged the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to construct barricades where the bridges were available to stop pedestrians from crossing highways directly, provide light on the bridges to encourage usage at night and also provide cover from the sun and rains for the users.
It also called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to conduct awareness campaigns to educate the populace on the need to use pedestrian bridges.
