At least six people have been confirmed dead, with several others injured, following a road crash along the Makurdi-Gboko Highway in Tarka Local Council, Benue State.
The accident, which occurred on Monday, involved a head-on collision between a Toyota bus and a Sharon bus.
The Federal Road Safety Corps Sector Commander in Benue State, Kehinde Dahunsi, attributed the crash to over-speeding.
Dahunsi said, “From available information from my unit commander, about six people died, and these six people comprised three males, two females and one male child, which makes six, and about twenty-three people were rescued.
“They are responding to treatment in the hospital now. The major cause of the road traffic crash is speeding.
“The driver was over-speeding and he lost control, thereby running to the opposite, which led to a head-on collision with the coming vehicle. And our advice to all these drivers is to stop excessive speeding, stop speeding. They should adhere to the speed limit.”
The Security Secretary of Tarka Local Council, Bem Agbuku, stated that the incident occurred after the Agudo area (Tugh-Tugh Sharp Bend) on the Makurdi-Gboko Road.
He commended the Chairman of Tarka Local Council, Raphael Yenge, the FRSC, and other security officials for their swift response, which enabled the rescue of the injured.
Agbuku added that the corpses had been deposited in a mortuary, while the injured were receiving treatment at St Christopher Clinic in Wannune.
Meanwhile, another six people died in an accident on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ogun State when a tanker truck collided with multiple vehicles at the Ota axis.
Three others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Vehicles involved included a Mack tanker truck (EKY 913YH), a yellow Suzuki mini bus (SMK16YK), and a yellow TVS tricycle (AAA 840QM).
Babatunde Akinbiyi, the spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, confirmed the incident in Abeokuta on Tuesday.
Akinbiyi said nine people (seven males and two females) were involved in the crash, with three (two males and one female) injured and six (five males and one female) killed. He attributed the accident to reckless driving by the tanker truck driver, who rammed into several vehicles while traveling from Lagos inbound Ota.
The TRACE Public Relations Officer noted that operatives of TRACE, the FRSC, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were on site for rescue operations.
The injured were taken to the State Hospital, Ota, while the deceased were deposited at the State Morgue, Ifo.
He added that the affected vehicles were cleared to the Papa Oscar cage, and traffic, initially disrupted, was managed for smooth flow.
In a separate incident, a woman died, and several others were injured following a multi-vehicle crash in Dutse, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. at the Tipper Garage Junction when a truck (HF-51-TOH) reportedly lost control while descending from Usman Dam Road due to brake failure.
The truck, transporting goods from Niger Republic including drinks, plastics, groundnut oil, and mosquito-repellent sealant, struck about four vehicles before colliding with two commercial tricycles (Keke NAPEP) and a saloon car.
Reports indicate that the two tricycles carried six passengers and a baby. The baby’s mother died at the scene, while a saloon car with four occupants was also hit.
Two passengers sustained injuries, and others escaped unhurt.
