FRSC Boss Raises Alarm Over Indiscipline, Bribery and Drug Abuse Among Personnel

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, has raised serious concerns over rising cases of indiscipline, bribery, drug abuse, and misconduct among personnel, warning that these issues threaten to erode public trust and undermine the Corps’ credibility.

Speaking at the 2025 Half-Year Strategy Session held in Abuja on Wednesday, Mohammed delivered a firm directive to commanding officers, urging them to address emerging behavioural threats within the agency and to uphold discipline across all levels.

This year’s session was themed Driving Change from Within: Reinforcing Integrity, Accountability, and Performance.

“Reports reveal that there are challenges in our enforcement operations due to patrol misconduct, rising cases of indiscipline, bribery and corruption, poor command oversight, absenteeism, drug abuse, and increasing incivility toward motorists.

“These are major factors affecting our internal administrative control and negatively impacting on our performance. It has also created deep concerns among Nigerians who have placed a high premium on our ability to deliver on our mandate,” he said.

The corps marshal emphasised that commanders must take responsibility for the conduct of their personnel, warning that inaction could damage the Corps’ institutional integrity.

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“Commanding officers must put in effort to manage emerging behavioural threats affecting our productivity and public perception.

“COs must identify changes in behavioural patterns and establish possible causes and apply the required disciplinary sanctions,” Mohammed said.

Calling for a cultural shift within the corps, he added, “We need to focus on leadership responsibility and enforcing the chain of command in order to restore discipline across commands.

“We need to confront the culture of compromise and address the ethical decay in the Corps which is affecting our integrity and public perspective.”

Mohammed urged officers to recommit to professionalism and accountability, noting that the Corps must begin to reward performance while penalising misconduct.

“There is a need to enforce standards against absenteeism, apathy and duty abandonment in the Corps; as well as reward performance and accountability as a motivating factor for improvement in the system,” he said.

With dwindling budgetary support, the corps marshal also charged field officers to adopt innovative strategies to maintain operational efficiency.

“COs must be innovative in strategic partnerships in the face of funding challenges. We must improve our relationship with State Governments to support some of our critical operations,” he added.

Despite internal challenges, the FRSC has recorded notable achievements on the global stage. Nigeria recently won the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award for Best in Road Safety Management in Africa and was elected host of the Permanent Secretariat of the African Association of Road Safety Lead Agencies.

“These achievements have translated the status of the FRSC into a lead agency in road safety administration in Africa,” Mohammed said, crediting the dedication of FRSC personnel and the backing of the Federal Government.

In a bid to strengthen the Corps legislatively, Mohammed highlighted progress on the FRSC Amendment Bill, which recently passed the House of Representatives and awaits Senate concurrence. The bill proposes renaming the agency to the Nigeria Road Safety Commission, expanding its jurisdiction to all public roads, and establishing a special armed squad.

“The FRSC Establishment Act 2007 will change to The Nigeria Road Safety Commission Act 2024.

“The Federal Road Safety Corps will now be known as Nigeria Road Safety Commission; the scope of operations of the NRSC will cover all public roads; the salaries of CM, DCMs and ACMS shall be consolidated; a special Armed Squad shall be established for the NRSC; amongst others,” he explained.

As part of ongoing institutional reforms, the Corps recently concluded a promotion exercise that saw three Assistant Corps Marshals elevated to Deputy Corps Marshals, 18 Corps Commanders promoted to ACMs, and over 1,200 officers move up the ranks.

“Management is striving hard to motivate staff and provide an enabling environment for productivity.

“It is expected that both Officers and Men of the corps will be committed to excellence in service,” Mohammed said

In a move to deepen inter-agency collaboration, the FRSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, broadening safety investigations across all transport sectors.

“The signing of the MOU with NSIB is making all our environment safer. Not just the aviation space, but also the road and the railway, because they’re in charge of safety investigations of the entire transport sector.

“We are going to put more effort, both the two agencies, to make our roads safe for the motoring public,” Mohammed stated.

NSIB Director General, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., described the partnership as essential to enhancing transport safety.

“We are here to just make safety recommendations to help the road safety do their job effectively and safeguard Nigerian lives,” he said.

He also praised the corps for noticeable improvements in responsiveness and enforcement in recent months.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who declared the session open, commended the FRSC for its resilience and performance in spite of financial and logistical constraints.

Citing crash statistics from “January to May 2025—2,406 fatalities and over 33,000 injuries”, Akume, represented by the Permanent Secretary overseeing the General Services Office within the OSGF, Sanusi Danjuma, called for intensified efforts in enforcement, education, and cooperation among relevant agencies.

“Reviewing performance highlights the weaknesses and strength of an organisation.

Government will continue to support your programmes with a view to attaining the vision of zero traffic death,” he said.

He further lauded the corps for leveraging digital tools like the FRSC mobile app and the National Crash Information System, which have improved real-time monitoring and policy development.