THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said ten persons died in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan highway Tuesday morning.
The accident involved a commercial bus with registration number TRK 135 ZY and a hit-and-run truck carrying a container.
Six persons were injured in the crash, which occurred around the Guru Maharaji area of Ibadan end of the highway.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the commercial bus was coming from Malumfashi, Katsina State and heading to Lagos State.
The ICIR reports that the bus had covered nearly 900 kilometres of the approximately 1,000 Katsina-Lagos journey before the tragedy occurred.
A similar incident, which claimed three lives and injured six others, occurred on the expressway on Christmas Day.
Incessant reports of gridlocks and accidents, with many fuel tankers going into flames on the ever-busy road, make the highway have the highest record of road accidents in Nigeria.
The ICIR listed the expressway as one of the country’s flashpoints for abduction and vehicular accidents.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in Oyo State, Joshua Adekanye, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the Tuesday tragedy occurred at 6:30 am.
Adekanye explained that the bus driver suddenly saw the truck carrying container and facing it in the same direction against traffic.
An attempt by the driver to avoid ramming into the truck made him hit the container and fall into a ditch, leading to the death of 10 persons, while six were injured.
The bus had 18 people on it. Seventeen of them were male adults, while one was a male child.
The male child survived but was among the injured.
Adekoye said the injured persons were taken to Ibadan Central Hospital for medical attention while the bodies of the deceased were deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.
He urged motorists to avoid travelling at night, as, according to him, the accident might not have occurred had the driver not travelled at night.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org