No fewer than 30 people have been killed in multiple accidents which occurred in Kwara State.
The Kwara State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Frederick Ade Ogidan, revealed this to Daily Trust on the sideline of the launch of this year’s ember months campaign and mega rally in Ilorin, the state capital, on Thursday.
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The theme of the event is “Avoid Speeding, Overloading and Unsafe Tyres to Arrive Alive”.
He blamed the fatal incident which happened along the Jebba/Ilorin/Ogbomoso highway on excessive speeding and non-obedience to traffic rules and regulations among other road violations.
According to him, “There were three separate incidents. One involved 4 casualties, another one 9 and the last one had sixteen persons involved who all died in the process.
“Most of them were actually multiple accidents with the last one happening on the weekend”, he added.
Ogidan said despite the efforts of the corps “recklessness on the part of some motorists and unsafe night trips have claimed several lives within the first week of the last quarter of 2022.
He appealed to motorists to avoid overspeeding, overloading and use of unsafe tyres to reduce accidents adding that all stakeholders should redouble efforts at ensuring safety on our roads.
“As the year draws to an end, you can only but expect an increase in our patrol operations, enforcement and rescue operations as this is the only way to ensure we arrive alive,” he added.
The Sector Commander explained that as the year ends, the increase in vehicular movement may increase road crashes if all hands are not on deck to ensure safety on the roads through public enlightenment and education, effective patrols and prompt rescue services.
He especially appealed to commercial drivers who carry the highest number of passengers involved in road traffic crashes to ensure they drive with valid driver’s license among others.
In his remark, FRSC Zonal Commanding Officer in charge of Kwara, Kogi, Ekiti, Hyginus Omeje, observed that the aerial night view of Ilorin, Kwara State capital, is not good enough, particularly when aircraft lands at night in Ilorin.
Omeje appealed to the state government to improve the situation by installing solar power lights.
