Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), on Wednesday, called for stakeholders to collaborate to tackle road crashes in Nasarawa state.

Shehu Mohammed, the Corps Marshal, FRSC, stated this at a Town Hall meeting on “Promoting Road Safety Culture Through Stakeholders’ Engagement” held in Lafia.

Mr Mohammed advocated a robust road safety culture that prioritises the safety of all road users in Nasarawa state and the country at large.

The Corps Marshal, represented by his principal staff officer, assistant corps marshal, Benjamin Nkwonta-Chidiebere, said road safety was a matter of life and death, hence a collective duty to ensure that the roads were safe for all users.

He called on the Nasarawa state government to lead by example by developing and implementing comprehensive road safety policies and investing in road infrastructure such as pedestrian bridges, traffic lights, and road signs.

The corp marshall decried the attitude of motorists who engaged in excessive loading where human beings and goods, including wheelbarrows, were loaded in a vehicle, making the passengers vulnerable to a higher degree of death and injury in the event of a crash.

“Promoting a road safety culture through stakeholders’ engagement is a shared responsibility, it requires concerted effort from all segments of the society.

“FRSC is committed to leading this initiative, but our success depends on the active participation of all stakeholders; together, we can build a culture of safety that will save lives,” he said.

Contributing, Meshach Jatau, Zone 4 commanding officer in charge of Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue states, described the town hall engagement as apt, noting that it would go a long way to reduce road crashes.

Mr Jatau disclosed that between January and May 2024, the zone recorded 497 crashes, out of which 134 people died.

“In Nasarawa State between January and May 2024, 232 crashes were recorded, out of which 52 people died, so the figure is not mere statistics,” he noted.

In his remarks, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, Nasarawa state deputy governor, represented by the commissioner for special duties on humanitarian, social services and non-governmental organisations, Margaret Elayo, thanked Nasarawa state sector command for organising the town hall on road safety.

Mr Akabe expressed the government’s readiness to lead the awareness campaign on road safety to motor parks and installing road signs, among other things, to save lives in the event of road crashes.

Earlier, Lucie-Samuel Mhii, FRSC sector commander, Nasarawa state, said the command was worried about motorists’ flagrant disobedience to traffic rules in the state.

According to her, overloading and driving without a permit, among other things, informed the town hall on promoting a road safety culture.

“On my assumption of office in Nasarawa, I discovered certain traffic situations that cause me to have sleepless nights. You see vehicles overloaded with goods: wheelbarrows and animals, of course, passengers sit on the roof; they hardly survived in the case of a crash,” she said.

(NAN)