By John Ugo
The Managing Director, Edo State Traffic Control and Management Agency Mr. Dennis Oloriegbe, has said the agency sent 52 drivers apprehended for various traffic offences in the state for psychiatric evaluation.
He said that four of the drivers were found to be depressed after psychiatric scrutiny.
Oloriegbe disclosed this during an inspection tour of the agency’s facilities by Governor Godwin Obaseki and members of the state Executive Council in Benin.
He said the agency’s Drivers Training Academy has trained over 1,200 drivers, comprising drivers apprehended for serious traffic offenses and those within the civil service.
The Managing Director noted that 52 drivers have been sent to the psychiatric hospital, while four other drivers were found to be depressed.
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, during the tour, said the state invested heavily in the agency because of the need to ease traffic management in the state.
According to him, “Traffic is a major issue for us in the city. We are working very hard with experts on what to do to ease traffic congestion in the state. The leading cause of traffic congestion is practices among drivers, particularly commercial drivers, and people refusing to obey traffic signs.
“I am here to make sure that we put facilities in place to train and apprehend defaulters; to see how well equipped the traffic agency is and also understand their challenges.”
Obaseki further noted, “In the next few weeks, apart from amending a few bye-laws, we are going to be taking measures to curb recklessness among drivers in the city.”
