Jumoke Olasunkanmi
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has reported that a staggering 5,081 individuals lost their lives in road traffic crashes across Nigeria in 2023.
This comes despite the Corps being said to have successfully recorded a 22 per cent reduction in road crashes in the previous year.
Corps Marshal Dauda Ali-Biu provided this information during a conference held on Monday to update the public on the Corps’ activities during its end-of-the-year 2023 special patrol operations tagged; ‘Operation Zero Tolerance’ which commenced on 15 December 2023, to January 15, 2024.
Ali-Biu attributed dangerous driving, night trips, and driving under the influence as the major causes of these road carnages.
He said: “From 1 January to 31 December 2023, a total of 10,617 road traffic crashes were recorded across the country. This figure is against 13,656 of 2022 which represents a 22% decrease.
“Also, 2023 records reveal that 5081 people were killed against 6456 in 2022 representing a 21% reduction, while 31874 victims got injured in 2023, against 38930 in the year 2022 signifying an 18.1% decrease.”.
Sadly, a high number of deaths occurred during the ’ember’ months of special operations, particularly between December 15, 2023, and January 15, 2024.
Articulated vehicle drivers’ recklessness at night was cited as the primary cause, leading to five major accidents that claimed the lives of 58 individuals. All of these deaths were a result of night trips.
Corps Marshal Ali-Biu expressed his concern, stating that these accidents accounted for 17 per cent of the total deaths recorded in 2023.
