Road crashes claim more lives than insurgency ― FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that road crashes claim more lives than insurgent attacks in the country.

Mr Godwin Ogagaoghene, the Zonal Commander in Charge of Oyo, Osun and Ondo States, stated this at the Ondo State Command’s end-of-the-year party and awards’ night on Friday in Akure.

Ogagaoghene, who noted that no fewer than 88 FRSC personnel were knocked down in 2019, added that another eight personnel had been knocked down in the last one month.

He said, “the number of lives lost annually to road accidents in Nigeria cannot be equated with the loss of lives to Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country.

“Many lives had been lost to road crashes and others road users do see such carnages on a daily basis,” he said.

He advised motorists to always exercise caution while on the roads by not indulging in excess speeding.

The zonal commanding officer also said that the party was organised to appreciate God for seeing the command through the hurdles of 2019.

According to him, the zone recorded a downward trend in the number of road crashes and fatality rate.

He also used the occasion to implore FRSC personnel not to rest on their oars but to do more in 2020.

“We must ensure that our roads are safe. We will do more because our goal is to reduce road crashes by 15 per cent and the fatality rate by 20 per cent.

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“We must work together as a team for much is expected from us,” he stated.

Also, the state Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr Rotimi Adeleye, said that the command was able to achieve success in 2019 because of the resilience and diligence of its personnel.

Adeleye appreciated Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for providing an enabling environment for the corps in carrying out their statutory mandate in the state.

The commander also applauded the residents of the state for their understanding and commended the press for giving unflinching support to the command in 2019.

According to him, the press has always been playing unquantifiable roles in the success story of the command.

He said that but for the press, the public would not have heard about the FRSC’s various awareness campaigns.

He said that the command had the best effective monitoring, personnel training and intensive public enlightenment on safety precautions.

The sector commander promised that the New Year 2020 would be better in its activities for the safety of the public.

NAN reports that the highlights of the occasion include the presentation of awards of commendation and excellence to some individuals for their support to the command.

Among the award recipients was Mr Muftau Ogunyemi of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Akure office.

Ogunyemi received an award of commendation for his unrelenting efforts in the coverage of the activities of the command. (NAN)