The Nation Newspaper

Tag: road accident

  • Four die, one injured in Ibadan road accident

    Four die, one injured in Ibadan road accident

    Four persons died yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in an accident at Uncle Joe on the Mokola-Sango Road.

    It was learnt that the survivor, a woman, is on danger list with a broken leg.

    The five victims, comprising three men and two women, were reportedly coming from a night club alongside others in two cars.

    Eyewitnesses said the three cars were speeding from Dugbe to Sango when a blue Toyota Corona, marked Lagos EKD 470BJ, lost control while trying to overtake the other cars at 5.15am.

    The car reportedly collided with a concrete wall in the middle of the road. Four of the victims -a woman and the three men- died on the spot.

    A source said some bottles of alcoholic wine were recovered from the car. It was gathered that it took Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) officials, policemen and other sympathisers an hour before the bodies could be recovered from the mutilated car.

    The State FRSC spokesperson, Oluwaseun Onijala, said three male adults died.

    He, however, said the lone accident occurred at 2am.

    Onijala said preliminary investigations have shown that the accident was as a result of speed limit violation and that the driver was driving under the influence.

  • Buhari mourns Ocholi

    Buhari mourns Ocholi

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday expressed shock and sadness over the death of the Minister of State for Labour, Barrister James Ocholi(SAN).

    Ocholi with his wife and son were killed in a car crash in Abuja on Sunday.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, described Ocholi’s death as untimely, regretting that Nigeria has lost a key component of the CHANGE agenda.

    “Barrister Ocholi was an accomplished and patriotic Nigerian, who was keen to accept the call to service at a time his country needed him,” President Buhari said.

    He said that the late minister of state in the few months he had been in office had already begun to distinguish himself through his commitment and dedication to his portfolio.

    The late Ocholi has had a long record of political association with President Buhari.

    President Buhari also consoled with the government and people of Kogi State, whom he described as having lost a distinguished and irreplaceable son.

    He prayed that God would comfort them and grant them the grace to bear the loss.

    “The entire country mourns the loss of this great man, who has sadly left us when we need him most,” he said.

    President Buhari has also sent the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engineer David Babachir to formally convey the news to members of the deceased family as well as parishioners in his place of worship.

  • Six Ibadan Poly students, two employees die in road accident

    Six Ibadan Poly students, two employees die in road accident

    A MOTOR accident which claimed the lives of six students and employees of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, yesterday threw the institution’s community and the Oyo State capital into mourning last night.

    The victims were among occupants in an 18-seater bus belonging to the Quantity Surveying Department of the institution, which somersaulted on the Ibadan-Oyo Expressway following a tyre burst.

    The accident, which occurred at about 6pm at Omotunde village, left four dead instantly. Two others died on the way to the hospital in Ibadan.

    Other occupants sustained varying degrees of injury.

    Those injured were taken to the General Hospital, Oyo.

    Three patrol vehicles of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) were deployed to the scene by the Sector Commander, Mr. Yusuff Salami.

    Salami said he could not ascertain the exact number of casualties.

    “We are still making compilation,” he said last night.

    The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution, Mr. Soladoye Adewole, said: “I just got the news not quite long. We’ve not been able to ascertain the casualty figure but we have actually recorded some deaths. Our Director of Medical Services and Registrar Mr Ezekiel Fehintola have gone to the scene. We have not been given full details of the incident.”

     

  • Road accident claims one in Ondo

    Road accident claims one in Ondo

    A road accident involving an Okada rider and Honda accord car has claimed the first victim of the new year in Arigidi-Akoko, Akoko Northwest local government area of Ondo state.

    Eye witness said the middle-aged man had a head-on collision with the car around 1 00 a.m and died instantly in front of Akograms in Arigidi-Akoko.

    The carnage happened almost the same time people were ushering in new year 2016 across the country.

    Sources said the woman who drove the ill-fated car took to her heels immediately the accident occurred and personally reported the case to the police at Arigidi-Akoko for protection and further investigation.

    The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Ikare,Mr Jimoh Basiru attributed the carnage to night factors.

    Also,the Chief Medical Director(CMD)State Specialist Hospital,Ikare,Dr Olatunde Olawoyin confirmed that a corpse was deposited in the hospital’s mortuary.

    However,as at press time,the victim was yet to be identified by his family members.

  • Five dead as bus plunges into Oji River

    Five dead as bus plunges into Oji River

    Five persons lost their lives early Thursday morning on the Onitsha-Enugu express way, as a commuter bus heading towards Enugu plunged into Oji River, near Anambra.

    Mr. Sunday Ajayi, Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Anambra Command, who confirmed the accident told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that the incident occurred about 1:25 a.m. on Thursday.

    Ajayi said there were 15 passengers in the vehicle, out of which 10 were rescued and taken to hospital, while five were killed in the incident.

    He said the timely rescue operations led by the personnel of the FRSC minimised the number of casualties.

    “The rescue at Oji River is still going on, we have been able to rescue 10 people alive and taken them to hospital, five were confirmed dead and the bus has been recovered,” he said.

    The commander said it was a ‘lone accident’ and blamed it on drowsiness of the driver, poor visibility and other dangers associated with night driving.

    He urged people who wished to travel to do so during the day time, and set out on time for journey that may stretch into the night.

  • Four dead in Delta road accident

    Four dead in Delta road accident

    •Baby, 18 others injured  

    FOUR passengers were yesterday confirmed dead in a collusion between a Toyota Picnick and a Toyota Hiace bus on the East-West Road in Ughelli, Delta State.

    A six-month-old baby and 18 others were injured.

    The two vehicles, registered as Delta SKL 22 XA and Lagos LND 315 XC, have their head offices in Delta but operate intra-and inter-state.

    The Ughelli Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Mr. Idris Fika said the incident occurred at 10 am.

    The unit commander said FRSC officials were drafted on the scene for a rescue operation.

    He added that protesters at a power station in Ughelli blocked a part of the dual carriage road, forcing vehicles to use a single lane.

    Fika said: “It is assumed that the accident occurred when the bus coming from Warri, in an attempt to overtake another vehicle, rammed into the Picnick bus from Ughelli.”

    The unit commander urged road users to always drive carefully, especially  during the Yuletide season.

    He recalled that a passenger died on Sunday on the Ughelli axis of the East-West Road when a commercial motorcycle conveying him rammed into a BMW Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).

     

  • Yuletide: NURTW cautions members against reckless driving

    Yuletide: NURTW cautions members against reckless driving

    The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Bwari branch, has cautioned its members against reckless driving during the yuletide season, to avoid accidents.

    Mr Muhammed Idris, the Secretary of the union, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari on Friday.

    He said that the advice was imperative as it is union’s responsibility to sensitise its members on need to shun reckless driving in order to prevent
    motor accidents.

    He decried the rising incidence of road crashes on expressways, which, he noted, was mostly caused by reckless driving.

    Idris said that reckless driving was inimical to other road users just as driving without a valid driver’s licence, among other traffic offences.

    “We must be careful while driving, especially during this yuletide season, to ensure that the lives of other road users are not compromised, whether they are car drivers or pedestrians.

    “Reckless is usually borne out of a need to intimidate and outperform other road users without regard to the safety of other drivers.”

    “Most people drive without giving warnings; however good and however skilled you are, such can amount to reckless driving.”

    He gave an assurance that the union would establish partnership with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to sensitise its members more about road signs.

  • Six dead in Kogi auto crash

    Six dead in Kogi auto crash

    No fewer than six people were Wednesday confirmed dead in an accident that occurred around Jimgbe, about 10 kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

    The accident involving one commercial bus and two tipper trucks happened close to Salem University, in Jimgbe village, around 10 am.

    The commercial bus with registration no GKP 12 YN was attempting to overtake one of the tipper trucks marked UNN 702 XA right on the Jimgbe bridge when it brushed the other and forcing both off the bridge.

    The six dead were occupants of the commercial vehicle, including the driver.

    The oncoming tipper truck with registration number LKJ 690 XA veered into the bush while trying to avoid headon collition with both vehicles.

    A six-month old baby, including the drivers of both tipper trucks however survived and were evacuated to hospital for medical attention.

    When contacted, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. William Aya, could not confirmed the incident.

    He however said he will get back to our correspondent as soon as he has detail of the accident, but was yet to as at the time of filing this report.

     

  • Scores feared dead in Benin/Onitsha road crash

    Scores feared dead in Benin/Onitsha road crash

    Several persons were feared dead in a ghastly motor accident that occurred around the Asaba Airport, Asaba, Delta state on the busy Benin/Onitsha highway on Friday morning.

    Eyewitness account said the accident occurred around 10:40am and it involved a trailer and two vehicles – a fully loaded 16-seater bus and taxi painted in the blue/white color of commercial vehicles in Delta state.

    Although the death toll was unknown at the time of this report, an eyewitness, Ignatious Ruke Edjeren in a post said, “The death toll is expected to be high.”

    It was gathered that despite the fact that the accident occurred close to the Asaba Airport rescue effort did commence for at least one hour afterwards.

    Edjeren said, “As at 11.15 am, no fire service or road safety officials have reached the scene. Vehicular movements on the busy expressway have come to a halt.”

    Effort to get detail of the accident at the Federal Road Safety Corp Asaba was abortive.

    The zone’s public relations officer who was contacted on telephone advised our reporter to go and get details from the scene.

  • Five killed, 12 injured in Ogun auto crash

    Five killed, 12 injured in Ogun auto crash

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Ota, Ogun, said five persons had died and 12 others sustained injuries in two separate accidents at the Toll-Gate, Sango-Ota, on Wednesday.

    The Unit Commander of the FRSC in the area, Mr Leye Adegboyega, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota that the first accident occurred at about 12.10 a.m., while the second one happened at about 6.40 a.m.

    Adegboyega attributed the two crashes that occurred on the same spot to ‘’carelessness’’ on the part of the drivers of the trucks involved in the accidents.

    He said that the brake of a Larfarge trailer that was heading to Lagos from Abeokuta failed and rammed into eight vehicles which resulted in the death of five persons while four persons sustained various degrees of injury in the first accident.

    ”All efforts by the FRSC officials to get the registration number of the Larfarge truck proved abortive because the truck fell into a ditch.

    ”The drivers and the motor boys that were involved in the two accidents also absconded because of the weight of the offences they committed,” he said.

    Adegboyega said the second accident which involved a truck with registration number KRD-215 XB loaded with gravels, was also heading toward Lagos when it lost control due to brake failure and crashed into eight other vehicles.

    He said the total number of people involved in the two accidents was 17, while five died and four sustained various injuries in the first accident.

    He said eight persons sustained minor injuries in the second accident.

    ”The five corpses had been deposited at the State Hospital, Sango-Ota, while the other four injured in the first accident are receiving treatment at the same hospital,” the unit commander said.

    He appealed to the Federal Government to construct speed breakers along the toll gate and its environs to check speeding and reduce road crashes in the area.