The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Shehu Mohammed, has expressed concern about what he describes as alarming rate of recklessness among drivers on highways.
According to him, the drivers have continued to contravene established traffic regulations, causing undue harm to lives and unprecedented destruction to property.
The corps said in Abuja on Friday that in spite of the efforts put in place by the corps to reduce accidents on the nation’s highways, drivers were still adamant.
The Corps Marshal stated this in the wake of a fatal road accidents that occurred at Kanbi village, Jebba road in Kwara on June 13.
Mohammed said that Preliminary investigation revealed that the accident occurred as a result of excessive speed and wrongful overtaking.
He said that two vehicles; a blue articulated vehicle with no trace of registration and a white bus marked LSD363YE were involved.
He explained that 25 people were involved, comprising 13 male adults, five female adults, two female children and five male children.
“From this number, five people were injured (three male adults and two female adults) and 19 victims killed (11 male adults, three female adults, three male children and two female children.
“The injured victims have been rescued to Orisun Ayo hospital, one body was deposited at the morgue of the same hospital while the remaining 18 bodies were claimed by the families of the deceased.
“You will recall that in recent time, apart from setting up an Inter-agency Joint Task Force (JTF) to tackle the excesses of articulated vehicle drivers, the corps equally enhanced its enlightenment campaigns.
“The corps also ensure robust engagement of stakeholders, especially the various transport unions, all in a bit to curb accidents.
“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,” he said.
In line with his 2024 agenda for drastic reduction in road accidents, the corps marshal has directed commanding officers to intensify special patrol operations against these identified violations.
