The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, says the agency has recorded three landmark crashes that claimed the lives of 91 people in the last one month.
Speaking yesterday during a press briefing and meeting with stakeholders in Abuja, he said the crashes included one that occurred in Niger State on the 8th of September this year which claimed 48 lives, another in Sabon Wuse on 12 September which claimed 18 lives as well as another in Kaduna State on 15 September, claiming 25 lives.
He said this record called for concern.
He said the three crashes proved to have been obviously avoidable.
He frowned that while the government was doing its best to provide and maintain transport facilities in accordance with global best practices, some road users, especially drivers, have continued to make a mockery of the efforts by exhibiting a high level of recklessness on the roads.
Mohammed therefore directed commanding officers of the corps to ensure round the clock enforcement of traffic offences so as to mitigate the excesses immediately, stressing that a special patrol operation will be instituted and enforcement would be carried out nationwide.
He said the meeting was to address the current road safety challenges such as carrying inflammable substances, night trips, speeding, overloading and their devastating effects on the nation’s highways.
He expressed the hope that road crashes would drastically reduce by the end of the year after the meeting.
He noted that the challenges were a threat to the national health campaign and there was a need for collective action against road carnage on the highways.
Chief Buruche Julius, who represented Luxurious Buses Association, said their buses preferred to travel at night because the roads were free at night to enable them to travel conveniently.
He said the roads were in a bad shape due to several portholes as well as the various vehicles travelling in the day time that made the roads busy, hence night travels were faster and safer for the luxurious buses.
He added that they barely recorded crashes.
He said Road Safety officials have always trained and advised the drivers on how to be safety cautious while travelling.
He said managers of some luxurious buses also get managers to join in the journeys to monitor the drivers.
Speaking to journalists, President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alh. Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, noted that tanker drivers have been advised several times not to drive in the night which they try to adhere to.
He said sometimes the accidents are caused due to the bad roads but assured that the tanker drivers would always be sensitised to do the right thing and avoid crashes.
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