By Ibironke Ariyo
The head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, has expressed concern over what he calls the alarming rate of recklessness by motorists on the roads.
According to him, drivers continued to violate established traffic rules, causing unjustified damage to human lives and unprecedented destruction of property.
The Corps said in Abuja on Friday that despite its efforts to reduce accidents on the country’s roads, motorists remained stubborn.
The Corps Marshal stated this following a fatal road accident that occurred on June 13 at Kanbi village along Jebba Road in Kwara.
Mohammed said preliminary investigations revealed that the accident was caused by excessive speeding and improper overtaking.
He said two vehicles; A blue semi-trailer with no license plate and a white bus with license plate LSD363YE were involved.
He explained that 25 people were involved, 13 adult men, five adult women, two girls and five male children.
“Of them, five people were injured (three adult men and two adult women) and 19 victims died (11 adult men, three adult women, three male children and two female children).
“The injured victims were rescued at the Orisun Ayo Hospital, one body was deposited in the morgue of the same hospital while the families of the deceased collected the remaining 18 bodies.
“You may recall that the organization not only recently established a Joint Interagency Task Force (JTF) to combat truck driver excesses, but also enhanced its educational campaigns.
“The panel also ensures strong involvement of stakeholders, particularly the various transport unions, to reduce accidents.
“It is therefore regrettable that, despite all ongoing efforts, some motorists have chosen not to comply with safety regulations, endangering the safety of innocent road users,” he said.
In line with his 2024 agenda to drastically reduce traffic accidents, the Corps Marshal has directed commanders to intensify special patrol operations against these identified violations.
