The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed has expressed sadness over the death of 19 Nigerians who were killed in a fatal accident in Kwara State.
This is despite the efforts put in place by the Federal Road Safety Corps to reduce carnage on the nation’s highways.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Corps Commander, Ag. Corps Public Education Officer, Olusegun Ogungbemide, the Corps Marshal expressed displeasure over the alarming rate of recklessness of drivers who have continued to contravene established traffic regulations and causing undue harm to lives and unprecedented destruction to properties.
He stated this in the wake of a fatal road traffic crash that occurred at Kanbi village, on the Olooru new Jebba road in Kwara State at exactly 2000HRS on Thursday 13 June, 2024.
The statement said, “preliminary investigation revealed that the crash which occurred as a result of excessive speed and wrongful overtaking involved 2 vehicles; a blue Iveco trailer with no trace of registration and a white Toyota Hiace bus with registration number LSD363YE”.
It further revealed that “a total of 25 were involved, comprising of 13 male adults, 5 female adults, 2 female children & 5 male children. From this number, 5 people were injured (3 male adults, 2 female adults), & 19 victims killed (11 male adults, 3 female adults,3 male children, 2 female children”.
According to the statement, “the injured victims were taken to Orisun Ayo hospital, 1 corpse was deposited at the morgue of the same hospital, while the remaining 18 dead bodies were claimed by the families of the deceased”.
The Corps recalled that in recent time, apart from setting up an Inter-agency Joint Task Force to tackle the excesses of trailer drivers, it equally enhanced its enlightenment campaigns as well as ensured robust engagement of stakeholders,
especially the various transport unions all in a bit to curb this ugly occurrences.
“It is therefore unfortunate that irrespective of all the efforts in place, some drivers have decided not to adhere to safety standards as such compromising the safety of innocent Road Users.
“In line with his 2024 agenda for drastic reduction in road carnage, the Corps Marshal has directed Commanding Officers to intensify special patrol operations against these identified violations”, the statement said.
