Twenty persons have been confirmed dead and six others critically injured in three accidents recorded on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Mokwa, Niger State, and Otukpo in Benue State.
The Assistant Corps Marshal and Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, in a statement in Abuja, said the Ibadan crash involved a Toyota Bus with the registration number TRK135ZY.
The Mokwa crash involved a trailer coming from Lagos which had a head on collision with a bus and the Otukpo lone crash involving a bus registered as NAK77XA occurred as a result of a fallen tree that blocked the highway.
The statement disclosed that 18 people (all male adults) were involved in the Ibadan crash, out of which 10 were killed, six injured and the rest rescued without any injury.
Ten people were reportedly killed in the Mokwa crash, nine of which were confirmed dead on the spot and the remaining victim confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital.
The statement further revealed that zero fatality was recorded in the Otukpo lone crash, and that the injured victims have been taken to St. Daniels Hospital Otukpo for urgent treatment.
The main cause of the crash, according to the statement, was dangerous driving, along with road obstruction and excessive speed, which led to loss of control.
The statement read in part, “The six victims who were rescued with different degrees of injuries during the rescue operations of the Ibadan crash were given adequate first aid by the Corps’ medical rescue team before moving them to Ibadan Central Hospital for proper medical attention.
“While the remains of the killed victims were deposited in Adeoyo General Hospital Morgue in Ibadan, Oyo State.”
Acting Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dauda Ali Biu, decried the incessant violation of approved speed limits and dangerous driving behaviours exhibited by drivers during the Christmas celebrations.
He warned perpetrators of such habits to desist as the Corps would not spare them when apprehended.
He also called attention to hazards of night journeys as two of the three crashes were linked to night driving.
Biu, who frowned on the incident assured the motoring public that the Corps had intensified its patrol operations to engender sanity on the highways.
He directed the immediate deployment of a special squad to the affected part of the Otukpo-Makurdi highway to ensure speedy removal of the fallen tree as well as a traffic control team for free flow of traffic.
“The deployed squad has already commenced the cutting of the tree for immediate evacuation, as the motoring public is admonished to exercise patience, maintain the lowest possible speed while plying the route,” he stated.
