Road traffic crashes claim 36 lives in Edo, Delta, Anambra

NO fewer than 36 persons have been reported dead in road traffic crashes in Edo, Delta and Anambra between January and March this year, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Mr Kehinde Adeleye, FRSC Commanding Officer for the Zone 5 comprising the three states, disclosed this in Benin on Friday at the second quarter zonal retreat for commanding officers, zonal heads of departments and units.

Adeleye said that the figure was against the 34 deaths recorded within the same period in 2018.

He also said that within the same period, 57 road crashes were recorded against 47 in 2018, while 170 persons were involved against the 173 recorded in 2018 in the same period.

ALSO READ: NAFDAC confiscates 401 cartons of expired soft drinks in Minna

He stressed that the retreat was a capacity building programme targeted at commanding officers in the zone in view of the increase in road crashes and fatalities in the first quarter.

He said it was, therefore, necessary to put heads together and come up with new initiatives to ensure that the major goal and objective of the “Decade of Action on Road Safety” was achieved.

He explained that the FRSC had less than one year to achieve the basic objectives of the Decade of Action on Road Safety, adding, “there was the need for personnel in the zone to work hard and smart to achieve the goals.”

Mr Ben Anafa, FRSC Corps Commandant, Monitoring and Evaluation, delivered a paper titled “An Overview of Assessment Criteria for 2019 as Aligned with 2019 FRSC corporate strategy Goals”.

Anafa said that positive work outlook, improve funding, enhance funding, embracing technology and avoiding distraction on duty were some ways towards achieving the set goals of the Corps.