Federal Road Safety Corps was established via Decree No 45 of 1988 by the then Military Head of State General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and amended by Decree 35 of 1992 otherwise known as FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation. The decree which established the corps became an act of the National Assembly in 2007. The Act listed about 18 functions which the corps is expected to discharge. However, for the purpose of this analysis, we shall reproduce all the functions here with the hope that the authority concerned will look into the problems of people of Lafia with regards to how the road marshals are discharging these functions rather indiscriminately and sometimes overzealously. Below are the functions of FRSC: -Making the highway safe for motorists and other road users. -Recommending works and devices designed to eliminate or minimize accidents on the highways and advising the Federal and State Governments including the Federal Capital Territory Administration and relevant governmental agencies on the localities where such works and devices are required. -Educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of discipline on the highway. -Preventing or minimizing accidents on the highway. -Clearing obstructions on any part of the highways. -Educating drivers, motorists and other members of the public generally on the proper use of the highways. -Designing and producing the driver’s license to be used by various categories of vehicle operators. -Determining, from time to time, the requirements to be satisfied by an applicant for a driver’s license. -Designing and producing vehicle number plates -Standardization of highway traffic codes. -Giving prompt attention and care to victims of accidents. -Conducting researches into causes of motor accidents and methods of preventing them and putting into use the result of such researches. -Determining and enforcing speed limits for all categories of roads and vehicles and controlling the use of speed limiting devices. -Cooperating with bodies or agencies or groups in road safety activities or in prevention of accidents on the highways. -Making regulations in pursuance of any of the functions assigned to the Corps by or under this Act. -Regulating the use of sirens, flashers and beacon lights on vehicles other than ambulances and vehicles belonging to the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police, Fire Service and other Para-military agencies. -Providing roadside and mobile clinics for the treatment of accident victims free of charge. -Regulating the use of mobile phones by motorists. -Regulating the use of seat belts and other safety devices -Regulating the use of motorcycles on the highway. -Maintaining the validity period for drivers’ licenses which shall be three years subject to renewal at the expiration of the validity period. -Arrest and prosecute persons reasonably suspected of having committed any traffic offence. Indeed, from the foregoing, we can deduce that of all the functions enumerated, none suggest anything near meting out of punishment against motorists, where the law comes close to advocating punishment is when it says personnel of the Corps have powers to arrest and prosecute but also with a caveat, that a person can be arrested only after “reasonably suspected”. But roads marshals on highways once they site a motorist that motorist is presumed guilty which is quite contrary to the provision of the law which says one is innocent until proven otherwise. Apart from that, road marshals always appear hostile to motorists, particularly those with private cars. A commercial motorist will come with overloaded passengers; overloaded luggage sometimes without valid driving license, without strapping his seat belt etc, but road marshals would turn their faces the other way on these offenders and behave as if no offence has been committed. Reading the FRSC law as a whole, it emphasizes on advice and education of motorists as against punishment. Equally worthy of note is that the law that establishes the FRSC did not classify it as a revenue generating agency but road marshals on highways always act as revenue collectors, always eager to find faults with motorists so as to fine them. And another noticeable phenomenon about activities of roads marshals is that you hardly see them at the outskirts of the town, they always concentrate their duties within the city centers as against the outskirts where most of our road accidents occur. The above narratives are classic examples of what daily occurs in Lafia, the capital city of Nasarawa with regards to activities of road marshals. Their only designated point is at the heart of the town precisely around former State Police headquarters along Makurdi Road; they take advantage of road bumps around that area to perpetrate their nefarious activity which at the surface appear legally right but on the outer part is not what the law which established them mandated them to do. Among the functions of the road marshals is to clear the highways of any obstructions but their activities at the former State Police Headquarters constitute an obstruction on the highway. So while the law says they should clear obstructions on the highways they themselves by their unscrupulous activities on the highway become not only an obstruction to motorists but a menace. Most of the motorists’ interviewed by Nasarawa Eye agree that stopping of motorists by the road marshals at the Police state headquarters is indeed, an obstruction and that something has to be done urgently to stop them from going against the law that established the FRSC.