The Federal Capital Territory Administration has warned motorists against beating of traffic lights in Abuja.

Director, Traffic Management, Transportation Secretariat, FCTA, Wadata Bodinga, gave the warning during an interview in Abuja on Monday.

He said sanctions would be meted to anyone who violates traffic rules.

Mr Bodinga said though violation had decreased by 80 per cent, the FCT had yet to get there.

“Some people are still beating the traffic lights in the city. I can tell you that we are not where we wanted to be, but we are not also where we used to be,” he said.

Mr Bodinga explained further that there was an ongoing upgrade on the traffic lights to enable the gadgets to capture traffic data in the junctions within the city, adding that it would soon be activated.

He said that once concluded, it would enable the traffic lights to pick and record traffic violators in real time where the violators’ vehicle details would be transmitted to the traffic light control centre.

“This means that once you have beaten the traffic light in FCT, you are doing it at your own peril, because you will pay dearly for the offence. You either pay a fine at the point of renewal of vehicle papers or other means which we are still working on. We are looking at all options. The intention is to ensure the safety and security of the motoring public in the FCT,” he said.

The director said that the FCTA did a lot to ensure that traffic lights were functional, to curb the rate of accidents, particularly on the intersections within the city.

He added that the accidents occurred mainly because the traffic lights were either not functional or not installed, stressing that the FCT Administration had taken steps to ensure that traffic lights were functional.

“If you go round the city now, you will see that the traffic lights are installed and functional across the city. This was made possible following FCTA’s robust collaboration with other countries, particularly China, under its China Aid Project, which provided traffic lights in about 98 junctions under the second phase of the project. Also, the FCTA has upgraded the traffic lights in other junctions, about 96 of them, to become accessible online.

“This is a massive improvement, and this is why the turnaround maintenance is speedy and direct, because we are able to see a faulty traffic light by just a press of a button in the control centre,” Mr Bodinga said.

Mr Bodinga, however, identified the activities of scavengers and other miscreants, stealing batteries that powered the traffic lights as a serious challenge.

He said that the batteries servicing the traffic lights in about 15 junctions within the city had been stolen by the miscreants.

“We are taking measures to see how we can tackle the situation. We are also calling on residents to report anyone attempting to tamper with the traffic lights to security agencies,” he said.

(NAN)