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Judex Okoro, Calabar
National Chairman, Conference of Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), Paul Bepeh, has warned that any driving school instructor who is not licensed to train drivers would be prosecuted.
Bepeh, who doubles as the Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer of Cross River State, handed down the warning while declaring open a three-day training for driving school instructors in the state.
He said the only person who could kill more than one person at a time is an untrained driver and when the instructors who trains the driver is not qualified then all we will have on the roads would be killers.
His words: “An untrained driver or have baked driver is a time bomb waiting to explode either because the leaner went to a bad driving school or was trained by a bad instructor and you cannot give what you don’t have as an instructor .
“Anyone who is not a certified instructor or duly licensed is a potential killer and we shall not allow such people to operate driving school or train anyone in the state and any part of the country as it were. We shall prosecute and jail them.
“Without their cooperation, there will be frequent carnage on our roads and a lot of lives and property will be lost. We need to tackle the menace from the roots cause by having certified instructors who will in turn train qualified drivers. You cannot give what you don’t have.
He cautioned driving school operators fond of issuing certificate and fake license to drivers to stop it.
“There is no need issuing someone who is not qualified a certificate showing otherwise because you want to make money and he gets a drivers license with it .You cut corners not knowing that a lot of people can be killed because of that piece of paper you have issued illegally thinking you are making money but you are actually destroying lives.
“In most cases, you find drivers who have licences, but don’t even know where the ignition of a car is and you will be shocked how they acquired the certificate. We must understand that cars are replaceable but life is not,” Bepeh said.
Chairman, Association of Driving Schools in Cross River, Deacon Godwin Victor, said they will not hesitate to discipline any member who indulges in illegal activities .
“As an association, we know we play a sensitive role in what happens on the road and safety is our watch word. The training will help us and enlighten a lot of our members to also do the right thing.
“We will not hesitate in disciplining any member who is found wanting. But we are not vindictive about it. Rather, we want them to come and identify as well as get trained and be properly certified to be able to train drivers who use our road,” he stated.
