The Federal Road Safety Corps, Kaduna State Sector Command said it has arrested a BUA company driver who crushed six persons to death and injured 30 others on the Kano-Zaria Expressway.
The Sector Commander, Kabir Nadabo, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Kaduna.
Nadabo said the cause of the accident was as a result of overloading and dangerous driving.
He disclosed that the road crash occurred on Thursday, saying: “A trailer driver conveying bags of rice from Kano to Warri in Delta had a lone accident at Wambai along the Kano-Zaria Highway.”
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the trailer was at a dangerous speed and had resulted in a crash, which resulted in the death of the deceased.
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He said: “Men of FRSC and the Police conducted the rescue and were on ground for an on-the-spot assessment.”
Nadabo further said investigation indicated that the trailer was carrying 57 people out of which six died while 30 got injured.
“Apparently, the driver lost control of the vehicle due to high speed and the injured were conveyed to Makarfi General Hospital for further treatment,” he said.
He stated further that the FRSC had on February 24, 2024 inaugurated its Joint Special Task Force on Overloading of Goods, Humans and Animals with other agencies like the Police, NSCDC, FRSC and KASTLEA.
He said: “The Corps Marshal of FRSC, Dauda Biu, had tasked the Kaduna State Command to work with various security agencies as well as stakeholders.
“This is to ensure drivers overloading their vehicles with goods, humans and animals are stopped, enlightened and cautioned on the dangers inherent in the act.
“The Joint operation recorded numerous successes with the apprehension of 67 trailers, 1,807 passengers dropped and made to continue their journeys with alternative vehicles.”
The Sector Commander disclosed that the exercise didn’t record any crash during the operations except on March 4, 2024 when a trailer rammed into a Golf saloon car at Abakpa along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, killing five people.
Nadabo said FRSC as the lead agency in traffic management and road administration would continue to engage all the relevant stakeholders on the need to sensitise drivers on the dangers of overloading and night driving.
He said: “What we witnessed today is avoidable and tragic, may I unequivocally state that the driver has been arrested and will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.
“The corps will continue to explore ways to address the fundamental challenges of road crashes with a view to reducing them to the barest minimum.”
The Sector Commander commended the Kaduna State Government and other stakeholders for their sustained support to the corps.
Nadabo also lauded the Media for their friendship, reliability and support to FRSC programmes aimed at propagating the word of safety to Nigerians.
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