The Nation Newspaper

Tag: crashes

  • Two killed, two injured in separate midnight crashes in Lagos 

    Two killed, two injured in separate midnight crashes in Lagos 

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has reported two separate midnight accidents on Monday, leaving two people dead and two others critically injured in different parts of the state.

    According to a statement issued by LASTMA’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Adebayo Taofiq, the first incident occurred at about 2:30 a.m. on the Otedola Bridge inward Berger along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway. 

    When an unregistered vehicle conveying two occupants reportedly rammed into a moving, heavily-laden trailer at high speed.

    Both occupants of the vehicle died on the spot due to the force of the impact. The trailer driver allegedly fled the scene with the articulated truck before emergency responders arrived.

    LASTMA’s 24-hour Night-Gang Team stationed along the corridor was said to have responded swiftly, removing the bodies from the main carriageway and clearing the wreckage from the expressway. 

    Officers from the Isheri Police Division provided security support, while officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SHEMU) later evacuated the remains.

    In a separate incident at about 5:00 a.m., two persons sustained serious injuries in a crash involving an empty tanker and a pure-water distribution van (registration number SMK 67 XH) on the Third Mainland Bridge near the UNILAG waterfront inward Lagos Island.

    Read Also: 10 die, 21 injured in Lagos, Kogi, Enugu crashes

    The victims were stabilised by personnel of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) before being taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment. 

    General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and described the fatalities as avoidable tragedies caused by reckless speeding and disregard for road safety regulations. 

    He emphasized the agency’s strict enforcement of prescribed speed limits as essential to saving lives.

    Bakare-Oki commended the professionalism of the Night-Gang Teams and reaffirmed LASTMA’s commitment to round-the-clock surveillance and rapid-response operations across Lagos. 

  • BREAKING: Plane with 62 passengers crashes in Brazil

    BREAKING: Plane with 62 passengers crashes in Brazil

    A plane carrying 58 passengers and four crew has crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

    The twin-engine turboprop plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to the main airport in São Paulo city when it came down in the town of Vinhedo, the Voepass airline said.

    Footage circulating on social media showed a plane descending vertically, spiralling as it fell.

    “There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board,” the airline said in a statement.

    Local authorities said the plane landed on a residential building.

    Brazil’s GloboNews television network showed pictures of a large area on fire and smoking wreckage in an area full of houses.

    Police and fire services are at the scene and local hospitals have been alerted.

    Read Also: 52 died in 87 crashes within two months – Ogun FRSC

    According to tracking website Flightradar24, the plane was built in 2010 and left Cascavel at 11:56 local time (14:56 GMT). The last signal received from the aircraft was about an hour and a half later.

    Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, held a minute’s silence at an event he was speaking at.

    He posted on social media the news of the crash was “Very sad. All my solidarity to the families and friends of the victims.”

    BBC

  • Five pupils dead, two injured as car carrying school children crashes in Ogun

    An unmarked Toyota Avensis car bearing female school children has crashed at the Olorunsogo stretch of the Abiola Way, an arm of the Abeokuta inner city roads, killing five of the eight occupants and injuring two others yesterday morning.

    The car suspected to have been driven by a drunk driver, was sighted “speeding” and “driving dangerously”, which witnesses said led to a tyre burst before it crashed “uncontrollably” into a side of the road.

    The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps(TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the accident, stated that victims have been evacuated to the

    Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta.

    Akinbiyi attributed the cause of the accident to “over speeding, dangerous driving and burst tyre leading to loss of control” even as he suspected that the driver, who had escaped from the accident scene, was probably drunk at the time.

    “The number of occupants can’t be ascertained as at the time the rescue team got to the scene, but certainly there must be a driver who drove the vehicle and escaped from the scene.

    “Number of people presumed to be involved in the accident is eight. The driver is presumed to have escaped from the scene before the rescue team arrived.

    “Number of injured: two males. Five are presumed dead – five young females (between ages 11 and 22). Four other persons were later brought to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta, who were said to be in shock after receiving the death of the students,” stated Akinbiyi.

     

  • 9mobile crashes U.S roaming rates

    Nigeria’s fourth largest carrier, 9mobile, in a strategic partnership with United States (U.S.) leading telecom firm, AT&T, is offering customers visiting the U.S  the lowest call, text, and data rates while in the states.

    For as low as N50 per minute, 9mobile customers can stay connected with loved ones on the newest ‘9mobile Super 50 Offer’.

    This rate is the lowest offered by any network to customers travelling to the U.S. Calls within the U.S and calls to Nigeria are charged at N50 per minute; incoming calls at N50 per minute; SMS at N50 per page, while pay as you go (PAYG) data is now N50/MB.

    Speaking on the offer, Director, Consumer Segment, 9mobile, Adeolu Dairo, said the roaming package affords 9mobile subscribers the opportunity to stay connected with family, friends and business partners while in the U.S. The package enables customers to enjoy seamless and affordable connectivity on voice, data, and text on the go.

    9mobile Super 50 Offer is for new and existing customers who have hitherto been concerned with exorbitant connectivity bills when visiting the U.S.

    Dairo said: “Many traveling customers believe roaming in the U.S is expensive and can only be afforded by the rich, and this has led to some roaming customers relying solely on WiFi when abroad; thereby limiting their ability to remain connected. This package is also about bringing people together no matter where they are and ensuring that they stay connected to their family, friends, loved ones, and business partners.”

    To enjoy 7.1GB of data in Nigeria or 200MB while roaming in the U.S is to dial the activation code *4184*1# at a cost of N5,000 with 30 days’ validity.

  • Driver killed, another injured in road crashes

    Driver killed, another injured in road crashes

    A bus driver identified as Ifeanyi died yesterday on the Third Mainland Bridge after his vehicle collided with a Toyota Camry saloon car.

    The accident occurred around 3pm.

    It was gathered that the Camry, marked FKJ441CN, which was heading to Obalende, had a break failure, rammed into a stationary  bus (LSR531XT) and killed Ifeanyi on the spot.

    The car driver was said to have sustained serious injuries and was treated by officials of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).

    According to a witness, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) evacuated the body and towed the vehicles off the road for free flow of traffic.

    Meanwhile, another young man escaped death by whiskers at Tollgate in Alausa after a container fell on his car.

    It was gathered that the truck was being chased by officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), who fled as soon at the accident occurred.

    A motorist, who witnessed the incident, said the container flattened the vehicle.

    He said: “It is just God. The accident occurred less than a minute after the young man dropped off three passengers he had in the car. FRSC officials were chasing the truck. It seems they stopped the truck driver and he refused to obey.

    “They pursued and tried to block him. He swerved to avoid them and that was how the load tripped and the 20ft container fell on the car.

    “As usual, the FRSC people sped off immediately. Those FRSC people at Ojota need to be investigated for untoward activities. They engage in indiscriminate arrest of vehicles and extortion.”

    LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu said the body was handed over to the State Environmental Health Management Unit (SEHMU).

    He appealed to motorists to always apply caution, noting that the agency had attended to more than five accident cases yesterday

  • Nine killed in Ogun multiple crashes

    Nine people were killed and many injured yesterday in two road accidents in Ogun State.

    In one of the accidents, which  involved multiple vehicles at the Ajebo-Gilga, Fidiwo area of Ogun State, KM 72 stretch of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, seven persons were killed, including a child, and nine injured.

    The accident, which involved a truck and a Mazda bus, caused a gridlock.

    In a text message to The Nation, Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state Adegoke Adetunji said the accident was caused by “wrong overtaking”.

    He said 20 people, including 11 men, seven women and two children, were invoved.

    “Report of road traffic crash at Ogunmakin by 1200 hrs (on Sunday) on Lagos-Ibadan route at Fidiwo, Km 72. Vehicles involved are Mazda bus and truck (name unknown).

    “Number of people involved 20 adults (11 males, seven females, and two male children. Number of people injured: nine adults (six males and three females while the number  killed are seven adults (four males, two females and a male child).

    “The nature of accident is fatal while the cause of accident is wrongful overtaking. The injured victims were taking to OOUTH and the dead were taken to Ipara mortuary.

    “Drivers are advised to be patient and avoid overtaking at construction sites, where traffic is diverted,” Adetunji stated.

    In the second accident, two women were killed and four others injured on the Wasimi stretch of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Ogun State, on Saturday night.

    The accident involved a Nissan car, marked Lagos SZ 171 AAA, and an IVECO truck with registered as Ogun SRA 546 XA.

    The Nation gathered that the victims were returning to Lagos from Ilaro, headquarters of Yewa South Local Government, after a social engagement.

    It was learnt the woman driving the car lost control when the granite-laden truck coming from the rear, hooted to pave the way for its passage on the double carriage-way.

    The truck, in a bid to manoeuvre its way, hit the road median and tumbled on the car.

    The rescue efforts of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Suraj  Adekunbi and Assistant Inspector General of Police of Zone 2, Abdulmajid Ali and former Chairman of Abeokuta North Local Government, Abeeb Ajayi, who were passing by, prevented more deaths.

    Adekunbi and Ali drafted men of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to the scene.

    For hours, hundreds of sympathisers battled to rescue the trapped victims.

    But a passing truck, with Lagos State registration EPE 231 XJ was used to pull the truck off the car.

    Four injured female occupants were pulled out of the mangled car alive and rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta.

    The dead were taken to the morgue at Ifo General Hospital.

    Adetunji, blamed the accident on over-speeding, urging motorists to always observe traffic regulations and the speed limit to ensure safety.

    “My advice to motorists is to obey the speed limit. If they know the weather is not conducive, they shouldn’t be in a hurry, they should obey the speed limit and have consideration for other road users and desist from using Tokunbo tyres.

    “I don’t want to link the incident to the weather, but this is a rainy season and the road is always wet; the tyres will not have enough grip on the road like when the road is dry,” Adetunji said.

  • Transport firm retrains drivers to stop crashes

    Transport firm retrains drivers to stop crashes

    The crashes have been too frequent. But it was not just the frequency: there were series of complaints and criticisms.

    This left Peace Mass Transit Ltd (PMT), a road transport firm, with no choice but to re-train its drivers.

    The firm, which has been in business for over 20 years, decided to retrain its over 3000 drivers plying 26 states of the country. The company has in its fleet 3000 buses and 4000 employees and ferries no fewer than 30,000 passengers to various destinations.

    The company came under severe criticism after two fatal accidents that involved its buses recently at Umuahia along Enugu/Port-Harcourt express road  and  Bayelsa road, which claimed the lives of many innocent passengers and driver. The public outcry that followed those two accidents involving the company’s buses made the board and management of Peace Mass Transit to launch a campaign tagged, “Defensive Driving” for her 3000 drivers.

    Said the Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of the company, Chief Sam Onyishi: “This has become necessary as there is a great outcry and negative press against the company, as a result of these accidents that is trying to relegate to the background all safety records and achievements of PMT for over 20 years on Nigerian roads.”

    According to Onyishi, the police and eye witness reports have exonerated PMT drivers from the cause of these accidents, but, as a matter of duty, the company in other to retain the full confidence of the general public, who patronise her services, decided to retrain her drivers on defensive driving in conjunction with the Federal Road Safety Corps, and some consultant psychologists.

    Onyishi hinted that one of the safety measures undertaken by the company and which is being revisited is the selection of its drivers. He explained: “At the point of employment of drivers, PMT follows a set standards. Her prospective drivers must have valid drivers’ license, medical certificate of fitness from a government hospital, visual certification report, and drug test report; must be 31 years of age but not more than 40 years. And such person must have driven commercial vehicle for at least 5 years; amidst all these, priority is on married men. Furthermore, prospective drivers bring guarantors among who must be his immediate family member, religious head and community leader. A local government ID letter is also a prerequisite.  We take time to verify all submissions before short listing anyone for interview. After our oral test, a practical test is conducted by a committee made up of a Retired FRSC officer, 2 retired drivers, a psychologist, a retired traffic officer, and a Mechanical engineer. Successful drivers emerge from the above exercise”.

    He said of the training: “At consummation of the above exercise, orientation course is organised for the successful drivers by our safety team, customer service team, maintenance team and operations for 4 days. At this juncture, vehicles are assigned to each driver to ply the shortest distance for 2 years. Performance drives promotions from this point. Key performance indicators here include customer satisfaction, accident free driving and good maintenance culture,” adding,” Every PMT driver must attend training four times in a year; first quarter, second quarter, third quarter and the last quarter and in each of these quarters it is packaged in its peculiarity. We have resource persons coming from training unit of the Federal Road Safety being the supervisory body of road transport sector. Industrial Training Fund also partner with PMT on training, just as Automotive companies who manufacture the vehicles also send resource persons from China, Dubai, South Africa and Japan. They train our people on the use of their vehicle and how to operate it safely on the road. All the bodies mentioned do this in conjunction with our internal training team. A proficient team saddled with the responsibility of having 50 drivers on daily training from 9am to 12pm. It is headed by the HoD of HSE department, a retired State traffic officer; in their team are retired Federal Road Safety officers, retired State Traffic Officers, a Psychologist, retired drivers and a mechanical engineer. We don’t just bring ordinary persons to come and do it. In doing these things, drivers are certified by the different bodies mentioned above.”

  • Naira crashes to N246 in unofficial market

    Naira crashes to N246 in unofficial market

    The naira, yesterday, fell 1.22 per cent against the dollar on the unofficial market as 1,700 bureaux de change (BDC) operators failed to get dollar supply at a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sale due to incomplete documentation.

    The naira was quoted at 246 against the dollar on the unofficial market, weaker than 243 the previous day.

    About 1,700 BDC agents out of 2,818 operators were denied access to participate in the forex sale on Wednesday, limiting dollar supply, Aminu Gwadabe, president of Nigeria’s bureau de change association, disclosed.

    “The central bank has reduced the amount of dollar sold to bureaux de change at its twice-weekly intervention, which has also been cut to once a week now,” Michael Odoh, a bureau de change operator said.

    He said the reduction in volume of dollar sales by the CBN coupled with year-end surge in demand for foreign currencies by importers have impacted negatively on the naira.

    The naira fall was intensified after the CBN mandated BDC operators to get Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) of customers buying foreign exchange. The policy implementation, which started on November 1, has reduced the volume of dollars sold by BDCs and created dollar scarcity in the market.

    However, the CBN has been able to keep a grip on the local currency movement in the interbank market.

    The CBN has insisted that the adoption of BVN as a condition for the purchase of forex is expected to reduce the incidence of multiple purchases, round tripping and illicit transfer of funds, facilitate enforcement of authorised limits of forex sales to end users, sanitise the retail segment of the market and engender policies that will facilitate better allocation of forex, based on genuine demands.

    It insisted that the BVN provides the unique identity of each customer for the purpose of achieving effective “Know Your Customer” (KYC) principle and fraud prevention.

    It said the BVN is neither a payment instrument nor an account number and could therefore, not be used to access any account by unauthorised users. The banks, BDC operators and regulators use the BVN to validate the identity of a customer, using some biometric information such as finger prints and photographs obtained at the point of enrolment.

  • Road crashes: FRSC seeks partnership

    Road crashes: FRSC seeks partnership

    To succeed in its drive to minimise crashes, if not eliminate it, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has appealed for support from other military and paramilitary institutions. This, it said, would enable it to check indiscipline by motorists and other road users.

    RS.2 Zonal Commander Nse-Obong Charles Akpabio, made this submission after a meeting with the senior military and paramilitary officers at Idiroko Border, Ogun State, during his familiarisation/working visit to the area.

    He said: “The visit was part of my responsibilities of carrying out FRSC functions under my jurisdiction. This will enable me to interface with personnel of the corps, security agencies and other stakeholders for more collaboration.”

    Akpabio thanked the security agencies and stakeholders for their strong synergy and support since the establishment of the Corps 27 years ago. He, however, urged for more partnership, saying it is impossible for any agency to stand alone and deliver good services. He said safety should not be left for road safety administration and management agency only, as it is the collective responsibility of every well-meaning individual and organisation in the country.

    “For any agency to achieve its set goals, it requires the strong support from other government agencies in the course of dissemination of vital information, sharing of intelligence and enhances collaborations that would enable them to achieve a common goal for national development.

    “FRSC has discovered, through researches, that road crashes are preventable. It can be minimised or reduced. No matter how bad or worse our roads are the level of crashes that would occur on them would be based on how bad the motorists used the road. It has been discovered that 80 per cent of road crashes are caused by motorists who care less about safety or precautionary standards.”

    He appealed to motorists to embrace the culture of defensive driving and shun recklessness while driving.

    “Road crashes do not discriminate between ages and class. Nobody has immunity of road crashes. Therefore, drive responsibly for you to get to your destination safely,” he said.

    Akpabio urged motorists to always consider other road users as insane once they are driving.

    He appealed to uniformed men to avoid driving against traffic whenever the road is congested because they want to get to their destinations faster, advising them to consider the safety of other road users.

    He also urged them to always comply with traffic rules and regulations to enable them to show good example to other citizens. He noted that everyone has a role to play in the bid of eradicating the crashes in the country.

    He said if everyone can play individual role on daily basis, there is possibility of redeemed the nation from the incessant crashes.

    He pleaded that there should be commitment on the part of the personnel on the issue of road safety, even as he urged all officers to embark on training and re-training of their drivers and ensure their drivers possessed a valid driver’s license before allowing them to drive. He said driving license is the only certificate that permits any driver to drive on the road.

    “No company or agency’s identity card can be translated to be driver’s license,” he said.

    He urged the officers to shun patronage of touts or giving money to FRSC personnel for procurement of driver’s licence, whoever does that should definitely expect fake.

    Akpabio urged all vehicle owners to follow due process of obtaining the new number plate. He said vehicles’ number plates are now registered on vehicles’ owner name instead of the vehicles. This, he said, would enable the Corps and other security agencies to trace stolen vehicles or any vehicle that committed taffic or other crimes on the road.

    Akpabio pledged FRSC’s regular visit to the Idiroko Command and to train the officers on how to verify the original driver’s licence and number plates.

    Responding, the Customs Area Comptroller, Mr. Haruna Mamud, thanked the Zonal Commander for the visit and the enlightenment. He appealed to the officers to continue their supports to the Corps to enable it to tackle causes of crashes on the roads.

    He enjoined all officers to comply with traffic rules and regulations while on duty.

     

  • ‘Let’s eradicate crashes on our roads’

    The Corps Commander/Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Mr Ayo Sangofadeji, has urged Nigerians to join hands in ending the frequent crashes on our roads.

    He spoke while delivering a lecture on safety at the Engineering Search and Disposal Regiment, Sappers Barracks, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.

    He said crashes on our road could be minimised if commercial transport unions, companies and individuals co-operate with the traffic management agencies to embark on regular safety training/workshop for their drivers.

    He said, TRACE is one of the traffic management services in Ogun State to solve the envisaged transport problems, checkmating and controlling traffic and to effectively manage the heavy traffic flow.

    He said: “Accident is an unexpected, unpleasant or undesirable occurrence involving automobiles, which in any manner, must involve vehicles, human beings or other properties. Noting that accidents do just happen without any cause, he said accidents are categorised in three categories namely minor, serious and fatal.

    “Minor accidents, he said, involved neither life nor injury, but vehicles or property may be damaged. Serious accidents, he revealed, do not involve loss of life but internal or external bodily harm. And in fatal accidents, there may be no scratch on the vehicle(s), yet life is lost,” he said.

    He urged motorists to always consider these three factors that cause accident, human/institutional factor (driver), mechanical (vehicle) and environmental (road or weather) to ensure the safety of lives on the roads.

    Other factors he highlighted that cause car crashes were poor driving culture, illiteracy, poor eye-sight, drunk driving, over-speeding, psychological, reliance on metaphysical powers, temperament and road rage, over confidence and economic factors, even as he said they also contribute immensely in car crashes.

    Sangofadeji also appeal to motorists to always follow the due process of buying tyres, insisting that manufacturing and expiry dates should be considered.

    He said tyres are made of chemicals whose components breakdown after a fixed period, either used or not.  Noting that date of manufacture is stamped on one side of the tyre and indicated by four digit numbers.

    Sangofadeji advised motorists to shun dangerous overtaking where there is mountains or valleys, sharp corners and mining areas.

    The Zone II Commanding Officer, Mr Kunle Ajibade, appealed to all road users to maintain discipline on the road as Christmas is approaching.

    He urged them to embark on defensive driving and shun hazard parking, overspeeding, drunk driving and highway trading to ensure crashes are eradicate on our roads.