FRSC records 978 crashes, 223 deaths in 9 months in FCT

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has recorded 978 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) and 223 deaths between January and September in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Sector Commander, FCT, Mr Oga Ochi, who said this during the inauguration of 2022 Ember Months campaign on Thursday in Abuja, added that 1,753 injuries were recorded within the period.

Ochi attributed the accidents largely to speed limit violation.

He said that ember months, which referred to the last four months of the year, were usually characterised by higher vehicular movements which often resulted to high RTCs and fatalities.

Ochi said that human factor, which included speeding, overloading, use of unsafe tyres, reckless and dangerous driving among others, was responsible for more than 75 per cent of traffic crashes.

“Records obtained within the FCT reveal that between Jan.1 to Sept. 30, 2022, a total of 978 RTCs occurred resulting to 223 deaths and 1,753 injuries with speed limit violations as the highest causative factor.

“This record, even though slightly lower when compared to Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021 which had 987 RTCs, 159 deaths and 1,872 injuries, the trend still shows that RTCs and injuries is a major concern,‘’ he said.

Ochi urged stakeholders in the transport system to support the efforts of the Corps and other relevant agencies towards ensuring safety on the highway during ember months and beyond.

in his message, the Acting Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dauda Biu said that the ember months campaign was for stakeholders to sensitise their members on road safety culture.

Biu, who was represented by the Deputy Corps Marshal, DCM Kayode Falola said that there were more crashes even where there were good roads.

“Bad roads is not a factor for road crashes, even where we have good roads, crashes still occur.

“We need high level of discipline to make use of the roads. Law enforcement will not solve the problem alone, everyone need to be engaged for us to achieve a crash free society,’’ he said.

The FCT Minister, Muhammed Bello, represented by the Secretary, Transportation Secretariat of the FCT Administration, Mr Abdullahi Candido, expressed their commitment towards addressing road crashes in the territory.

He said that there were usually increase vehicular movements during the ember months, hence it was important to sensitise the public.

He urged the stakeholders to take advantage to ensure that drivers were sensitised and vehicles were in order before being put on the road.

Mr Yusuf Alabi of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), appealed to the government to construct good roads nationwide to enable drivers avoid night trips and reduce crashes.

“We are law abiding citizens, what we need are good roads for smooth journey; going to Lagos from Abuja could take more than 24 hours now due to bad roads,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by representatives of Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Police, and Directorate of Road Traffic Services, among others.

Highlight of the events was the presentation of plays by the Road Safety Club of National Youths Service Corps and NDLEA respectively. (NAN)