About 324 persons died and 1,706 others sustained various degrees of injury in road crashes in Kogi State in 2022.
The Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps Stephen Dawulung, disclosed this in Lokoja on Thursday, where he described the auto crashes in the year 2022 as “very unfortunate” and “saddening” considering the number of innocent lives lost.
He said from January to December 2022, 458 road crashes occurred in Kogi, adding that “out of the total cases of 458 auto crashes, 5, 161 people were involved leaving 324 persons dead and 1, 706 injured.
“To us as a corps, the casualty and the rate of crashes within that year is very high and unacceptable, but that’s the reality facing us today.
“We aren’t happy with the outcome of the report looking at the enormity of sensitisation and enlightenment campaigns we carried out during the period under review.
“Of course, we have to blame this on the recklessness of the motorists, some of who continually refused to heed traffic rules and regulations for safety,” he said.
He warned motorists to always ensure the roadworthiness of their vehicles before embarking on a journey and drive with care along the highways.
He said, “this year 2023, my Command will continue carrying out enforcements and enlightenment programmes against speed, overloading and mixed loading of goods and passengers, especially in trucks and other vehicles meant to convey only goods.”
Dawulung also advised motorists to exhibit a high level of discipline and adhere strictly to road traffic regulations to avoid such ugly incidents.
