‘Accidents on Lagos-Ibadan expressway dropped by 40% in 2007’

Adelowo Oladipo, Lagos - 31.12.2007

THE Lagos State zonal command of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has said that the auto crashes along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in 2007, particularly within the Eid-eil-Kabir and Christmas celebrations, were about 30 to 40 per cent lower than what obtained within the same period in 2006.

The sector commander, Mr. John Akodo, disclosed this at the weekend during an interview with the Nigerian Tribune. He said the situation was made possible with the deployment of about 300 personnel, 20 patrol cars and about 15 motorcycles on the highway to ensure free flow of traffic coupled with the blockade of all illegal U-turns on the road.

Mr. Akodo said if the commission had not understudied the traffic flow prior to the period, the commission would have been faced with serious problems.

He noted that for the first time in many years, Nigerians, particularly Lagos residents, did not have cause to celebrate either Sallah or Christmas, “and hopefully, the New Year, on the road because of the traffic hold-up or something else.

“We positioned people there and we also put recovery vehicles on the stand-by in case any vehicle fell off the road, so that they can be easily removed almost immediately,” said Akodo.

Meanwhile, a press statement on road traffic accidents statistics on casualty and vehicles along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune, showed that a total of 350 accidents were recorded on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in September 2007.