Accidents claim 473 lives in Niger

The Niger State Commander Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Mr Kumar Tsukwam, has disclosed that a total of 473 persons lost their lives in Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) between January and June 2023 in the state.

The State Sector Commander made this disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Minna.

He explained that, worried by the number of autocrash, the command is currently working round the clock to bring it to the barest minimum.

According to him, “Within the period under review, the command recorded 766 road crashes, with about 5, 272 persons involved, and 2, 607 sustaining various degrees of injuries.

“Also, 204 of the road traffic crashes were fatal, 483 serious, while 79 were minor.”

The state Commander FRSC listed some of the causes of accidents, to include, human, vehicular and environmental factors.

He, however, insisted that it is the human factor that is responsible for many of the accidents, adding that when the drivers obey traffic rules and regulations, they not only save their own lives, but those of other road users.

He noted that as a result of this, the corps usually concentrates on the drivers during its sensitisation, because little mistakes from them could lead to accidents being the ones driving and in control of the vehicles.

Tsukwam maintained, “Every day, we go to the motor parks to talk to commercial drivers and also take a look at their vehicles to determine their roadworthiness.”

He then appealed to motorists to at all times respect traffic rules and regulations while using the roads to prevent accidents.