No fewer than nine people were killed in auto crashes across the country during the Eid-el-Kabir Sallah celebration, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has announced.
The command also stated that 78 others who incurred varied degrees of injury in the crashes, which involved 21 vehicles and 128 individuals, were quickly sent to hospitals across the zone, while 41 others were rescued unharmed during the period.
In a statement obtained in Osogbo, the acting Zonal Commanding Officer, Leye Adegboyega, reviewed activities in the first three days of the command’s special operation for Sallah, which began on Friday and covered major routes within its jurisdiction.
He also stated that the corps deployed a total of 3,018 personnel, 57 patrol vehicles, five ambulances, and two heavy-duty tow trucks during the period.
According to him, command personnel covered approximately 65 major routes across the zone on a daily basis to ensure good visibility and reduce avoidable speed-related crashes, and standby rescue teams were stationed across all commands in the zone to respond quickly to distress calls from accident scenes.
The statement is further read in parts: “The 2024 Eid El Kabir Sallah Special Patrol Operation is scheduled to be held between Friday, June 14, and Friday, June 21, 2024, across the country.
“Zone RS11 Osogbo of the Corps, which comprises Osun, Ondo, and Oyo states, has keyed into the mission of the operation, which is to ensure a free flow of traffic, minimise the occurrence of RTCs, provide prompt rescue services in the event of crashes, and ensure timely clearance of obstructions on all major roads and the critical corridors across the three states of the zone during and after the Sallah festivities.
“For the zone to achieve the mission of the operation, a total of 3,018 personnel (comprising 2,155 regular marshals and 863 special marshals), 57 patrol vehicles, five ambulances, and two heavy duty tow trucks have been deployed across the component commands.
“Included in the roads we cover on a daily basis are the following critical corridors to which we give particular attention: i. Ibadan-Lagos expressway;
“I. Ibadan-Ife expressway; iii. Ife-Ilesa expressway; iv. Ilesa-Ipetujesa-Akure expressway; v. Sagamu-Ore-Benin expressway; and vi. Ibadan-Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway.”
The zonal commander mentioned that in the first three days of the operation, they recorded the following achievements: “The arrest of 737 traffic offenders who were duly contravened for 766 various traffic offences that might otherwise have led to avoidable road traffic crashes.
“Execution of 219 various public enlightenment activities across the news media, motor parks, churches, mosques, and other public places to drive home the road safety message and create public awareness on the need for safety consciousness.”
Others were the provision of prompt rescue services for crash victims of 13 RTCs, which involved 21 vehicles and 128 people, out of which nine unfortunately lost their lives, 78 others sustained varying degrees of injuries and were swiftly conveyed to hospitals across the zone where they sustained cordial relationships for treatment, and 41 other persons were rescued without injuries and continued their journeys.
Speaking on the plans of the FRSC for the future, Adegboyega, on behalf of the zone, appealed to the public and all road users to use the roads responsibly and contribute their quota to a reduction in the loss of lives and valuable property.
