Alarming Rates of Fatal Road Accidents in Nigeria

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Agbonkhese, O. et. al in their 2013 publication, “Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: Causes and Preventive Measures (in Civil and Environmental Research Vol 3, No. 13, 2013), writes, Road accidents have become a normal and re-occurring phenomenon in Nigeria which constitutes a menace in modern times. Although both the developed and developing nations of the world have suffered from varying degrees of road accidents, the developing countries clearly dominates with Nigeria having the second highest rate of road accidents among 193 ranked countries of the world. Deaths from reckless driving are the third leading cause of death in Nigeria. In 2012, at least 473 persons died from a total of 1,115 vehicular accidents nationwide. Already in 2013, April may go down as the worst month in terms of road accidents as according to reported cases, April 3, 2013: A luxury bus and a smaller bus crashed on the Abuja-Lokoja Road, 18 died. April 5, 2013: A petrol tanker set luxury bus and articulated vehicle ablaze at Ugbogui village on Ore-Benin Expressway, 80 people were burnt beyond recognition. April 6, 2013: At Dazigan, 11 kilometers from Potiskum, Yobe State, 20 died in an accident. April 11, 2013: 10 died on the Damaturu-Gashua Road also in Yobe State. April 14, 2013: Seven died on the Abuja-Lokoja Road, a car ran into an articulated vehicle. April 15, 2013: Five died on the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway. By the middle of April, 142 people had died from reported motor accidents, 30 per cent of the 473 deaths recorded in 2012 had been covered in only 15 days! There could be more unreported cases, and as often happens, some of the injured die without making the statistics.” In this paper, Agbonkhese, O. et. al concluded that “here is need to view road traffic accident as a very serious issue requiring urgent attention aimed at preventing untimely deaths, reducing the health, social and economic impacts it portends to the average Nigerian.”

Fast forward to 2014 through 2016, almost on a daily basis, a country like Nigeria records major and often times fatal accidents involving multiple vehicles. Privately owned intercity and interstate smaller transport buses are usually involved in such accidents. One of the most notorious for major and fatal accidents is a bus service called “Peace Mass Transit (PMT)”. On May 23, 2016, a PMT major accident with a trailer, a head-on collision claimed the lives of many young travelers. This accident was widely publicized in Nigerian Newspapers such as the Punch with the headline, “13 die, others injured in Abia auto crash”. It read, “No fewer than 13 persons died on Sunday after a commercial bus en route from Enugu State had a head-on collision with a trailer at Ofeme Junction on Umuahia Road, Abia State. Two other passengers in the 18-seater bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit Limited with number plate, AKL895YY, reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident that happened around 11am. The trailer en route to Enugu State from Port Harcourt, River State, was said to be on top speed and lost control, veering into the path of the bus, which was a few kilometres away from its destination – Umuahia. It was gathered that the trailer driver fled the scene immediately after the crash. An eyewitness, who identified herself simply as Sharon, said some of the passengers were mangled in the bus while others were thrown on the road as crowd gathered to rescue the injured. She said she was in another bus travelling to Ebonyi State, adding that he counted eight lifeless bodies at the spot. She said, “It (the accident) happened just now along Umuahia Road. Please rescue team should try and locate them. Eight lives claimed already.”

Major and fatal accidents in Nigeria are routine and yet there have been no tangible plans in place to improve road conditions and enforce speed limits.

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