The Borno command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says 37 lives were lost in 109 road crashes recorded across the state from January to date.

The state sector commander, Ashiru Saminu, made this known on Thursday in Maiduguri at the flag-off ceremony of the 2023 ember months campaign organised by the sector in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“These crashes involved 123 vehicles and 602 people; 37 out of the 602 people were killed while 206 others sustained various degrees of injuries.

“The prevalent causes were attributed to overspeeding, overloading, dangerous driving, failure to install speed limiting device, lane indiscipline, route violation, use of phone while driving and poor vehicle maintenance, among others,” Mr Saminu said.

He noted that as the lead agency in road traffic administration and safety management, the FRSC was committed to putting measures and programmes during such periods of increased travel to reduce crashes.

According to him, this year’s campaign, themed “Speed thrills, but kills, drive responsibility and avoid overloading”, was premised on excessive speeding and tyre bursts as one of the major causes of crashes during such period.

While commending the Borno government for its effort in road construction and rehabilitation to ensure seamless transportation and safety of road users in the state, Mr Saminu also appreciated the support from other sister organisations.

“The collaboration and support accorded the Command by emergency response agencies such as NEMA, Fire Services and the Nigerian Red Cross Society cannot be over-emphasised.

“Permit me to recognise the efforts and contributions of our Special Marshals, Road Safety Club members, stakeholders in the transportation sector, including the Borno Express Transport Cooperation, NURTW, NARTO, RTEAN and Tricycle Association,” Mr Saminu said.

Speaking on behalf of transporters at the event, the state chairman of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Jidda Bishara, and the general manager of Borno Express, Grema Kyari, assured their commitment to implement road safety policies.

(NAN)