The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has expressed concerns over the increasing rate of accidents on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway despite its good condition and expansion.
According to Ahmed Umar, the Ogun State sector commander, the majority of the accidents on the road were caused by drivers who took advantage of the road’s expansion to speed excessively.
Umar made this known during the unveiling of a new administrative building for the Ogunmakin unit command, which was named after the Corp Marshall Dauda Biu.
The event took place at the unit command located at Alapako-Aro Village, Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Umar emphasized that the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway presented the greatest challenge to the regular and special marshals in terms of traffic control, accident prevention, and crash response.
In efforts to reduce accidents on the road, the FRSC provided a road-side clinic in Sagamu and partnered with some private clinics along the expressway to cater to road accident victims.
He added, “We have road-side clinic in Sagamu and I believe mobility from here to Sagamu is not less than 15 minutes if there is no obstruction on the road. We have another private clinic in Ogere that takes care of road accident victims. We are making effort to have another road-side clinic here in Ogunmakin.
“The major cause of road crash on this expressway is speeding which we can attribute to the nature of this road. Because of the expansion and smoothness of the road, people speed unnecessarily.
“What the FRSC do is that, we are giving more enhanced logistics of new patrol vehicles. In less than 7km, you will see our patrol vehicle, and that is how you will be seeing different patrol vehicles throughout the stretch of the expressway. This is a way to ensure there is prompt response to accident victims.”
The unit commander of Ogunmakin Unit, Phillip Gogomi, hinted that efforts were ongoing to build a RTC clinic.
He said, “It is our prayer that approval of such request will be granted with deployment of well qualified medical personnel, equipment, and drugs to furnish the clinic.
“This will go a long way to reduce the rate of deaths from RTC recorded due to distance from crash scene to the nearest hospital.”
In his talk, McPherson University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Adegbaye Igbasan praised the Ogun FRSC for their assistance to university employees and guests, adding that they were working effectively to guarantee the protection of all road users.
Igbasan, who called road mishaps in Nigeria “necessary,” emphasized that every Nigerian should be involved in teaching obedience to traffic rules and regulations.
