Road crashes claim 159 lives in Edo in 11 months
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Edo Sector Command, has said that no fewer than 159 people died in road traffic crashes in the state between November 2018 and October.
Mr Anthony Oko, the State Sector Commander, disclosed this on Thursday in Benin during the commemoration of the 2019 World Accident Victims Remembrance week.
Oko also disclosed that within the period no fewer than 228 crashes were recorded, with 808 persons injured.
He also said that 1,991 persons and 432 vehicles were involved the road crashes.
The FRSC sector commander reiterated the need for motorists and road users to be safety conscious when on the highway.
He said that road traffic crashes in the state had reduced compared to the 2018 figure and attributed the reduction to the proactive measures put in place by the sector command.
Oko explained that the measures included more visibility of FRSC officials on the roads, as well as aggressive public education on various media platforms.
Other measures, he said, were through various religious advocacy, schools’ sensitisation as well as collaboration with Edo emergency centre on clearance of gridlock and crashes.
The sector commander however appealed to the Edo Government to assist the command with patrol vehicles and bikes.
He also appealed to the government to help the command with tow trucks, ambulances, as well as funds, especially during the operation zero tolerance, a programme during the “ember” months to eliminate occurrence of accidents.
Oko said that this was to make the operation a huge success as it would be a collaboration with other sister security agencies.
He further called on the state government to establish ambulance points in the state. (NAN)