Court convicts motorist using South Korean driver’s licence in Awka

A mobile court attached to the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC) in Awka on Thursday sentenced a motorist, Azuka Okoye, to two months imprisonment  for  driving a vehicle using a South Korean driver’s licence.

The court, however, gave the convict an option to pay N7,000 for the offence.

The Magistrate, Eze Nwabachiri, said the sentence was because ordinary citizens were not allowed to use licences of foreign countries without bilateral arrangements between the traffic regulatory agencies of the concerned countries.

Mr. Nwabachiri said only diplomats, envoys and tourists were permitted to use foreign drivers’ licences in their host countries.

“You are hereby sentenced to a fine of N7, 000 or two months imprisonment,” he said.
The convict had told the court that he returned home during the yuletide and was scheduled to return to South Korea by the end of February.

He said the licence in his possession was still valid and appealed that he should be allowed to use it as proof that he had good driving knowledge.

Meanwhile, Sunday Ajayi, the Sector Commander of FRSC in Anambra, said the Mobile Court operation was in line with safer road objective of the service.
Mr. Ajayi said the operation was in conjunction with Anambra Government showing concern over the recklessness of drivers on the road.

The commander said the mobile court would sit regularly because of its effectiveness in checking drivers’ misconduct.

“The mobile court is part of the activities that we are undertaking to achieve our goals for 2018.

“There is no special time for obeying traffic laws, safety is an all time business and we will be having it from time to time.
“During special operations like this we look out for every offence but we have special interest in high risk factors like lane violation, speeding, possession of licence, and the use of phone while driving,’’ he said.
(NAN)