In 2024, 411 people died nationwide while collecting fuel from downed tankers, according to the Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
To commemorate the end of the “Operation Zero Tolerance” special patrol campaign in Abuja on Monday, FRSC corps marshal Shehu Mohammed made this statement.
The risky practice of collecting fuel from downed tankers was the primary cause of the high death toll in the nation, Mr. Mohammed said.
At this point, he said, “it is important to emphasize that, of the total fatalities that occurred in 2024, 411 deaths, or 7.6% of the total deaths, were not primarily caused by the crashes but rather a secondary factor, which is the very monster we are fighting today: scooping of fuel from fallen tankers.”
In Niger State, a petrol truck exploded last week, killing at least 98 people as they gathered to pick up fuel that had spilled on the road.
However, Mr. Mohammed also said that 5,421 persons lost their lives in traffic accidents across the country in 2024, a 7% rise from the 5,081 fatalities that were reported in 2023.
Between January 1 and December 31, 2024, 9,570 traffic accidents were reported nationwide, he explained.
Additionally, the number of injuries decreased by 2% in 2024, from 31,154 in 2023 to 31,874 in 2024.
But according to Mr. Mohammed, “the corps recorded a seven percent increase in fatalities as 5,421 people were killed in 2024 while 5,081 people were killed in 2023.”
Major crashes took place in Plateau, Abia, Kaduna, Kwara, and Ondo States, according to the corps marshal. The most catastrophic of these occurred in Jebba, Kwara State, when 30 persons lost their lives.
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He said that the increase in fatalities happened even though there was a 10% decrease in the overall number of traffic accidents in the country, with 9,570 occurrences reported in 2024 as opposed to 10,617 in 2023.
However, he ascribed the rise in fatalities to human causes like weariness, overloading, and careless driving.
When compared to the yearly record of 2023, the corps registered a sharp decline in both the number of road traffic crashes and injuries from January to December 2024, according to an analysis of our annual performance, Mr. Mohammed stated.
