No fewer than 10 people were confirmed to have lost their lives, while 21 others sustained various degrees of injuries in motor accidents that occurred along the Gwagwalada-Zuba-Lokoja highway in July 2011.
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) unit commander, Gwagwalada area council, Mr.Ahmed Atako, disclosed this yesterday in the monthly accident report of the unit, made available to LEADERSHIP.
Atako, said 25 vehicles were involved in accidents within the month under review, in which 59 people were involved.
He added that while eight male and two female adults lost their lives in the accidents, 21 people sustained injuries.
He attributed the accidents to road traffic violation, wrongful overtaking, dangerous driving and speed limit violation, as well as driving during heavy rain fall, just as he lamented that some drivers were not cautious enough to drive slowly whenever it was raining heavily , saying commercially bus drivers were the greatest culprits.
“We have also noticed that whenever it is raining heavily, some of the drivers hardly reduce their speed limit, especially among the commercial drivers,” he said.
Atako further disclosed that about 250 personnel would be deployed to the Gwagwalada-Giri-Zuba road to control traffic during the Sallah celebration to ensure safety of people travelling for the celebration.
According to him, 70 FRSC regular marshal, 20 special marshal and police as well as civil defence corps would be deployed to the area, while 10 vehicles, including a heavy duty truck and 2 ambulances would be stationed at some black spots in case of any emergency.
The FRSC added that the entire road foot paths would be blocked with heavy equipment to avoid unnecessary traffic hold-up, saying that some commercial bus drivers who are in a hurry to make much money sometimes divert through the footpath to cause traffic jam but that the corps had already met with the executive of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers (NUTRW), on the need to advice their drivers to drive careful while conveying passengers during the Sallah period.
“We are also going place a public address system at Giri junction to caution all motorists travelling to the east and the north to drive safely while on the road,” he added, just as he disclosed that a mobile court would be put in place to prosecute any traffic violators.
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