Road Accidents Claim 472 Lives

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday confirmed the death of 472 persons in more than 500 road accidents in different parts of the country in December 2010.

Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshall of the FRSC, made the confirmation in Lokoja on Monday while reviewing the activities of the commission in the last month of 2010.

He said the commission would come up with the state-by-state statistics of road accidents in the period, saying that the three states with the lowest number of crashes would be rewarded.

Chidoka described the activities of the commission in the last three months of 2010 as successful, saying that the number of deaths and accidents recorded was low when compared with December 2009.

He commended the police, the civil defence corps and the Nigeria Air Force for collaborating with the FRSC to reduce the carnage on the nation’s highways, saying that the introduction of aerial survey was helpful.

According to him, the aerial survey helped the commission to respond quickly to issues and in the deployment of resources to critical areas of need.

Chidoka, who was in Lokoja to monitor the flow of traffic on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road, said the commission would further mobilise resources toward reducing road crashes.

He commended the media and other stakeholders for their support but said that a lot still needed to be done in the effort to change the attitude of drivers and other road users.

The Corp Marshall was accompanied by the Zonal Commander of the FRSC, Mr Austin Aipoh, Mr Kayode Olagunju and the Kogi Sector Commander, Mr Sunday Maku.