Reckless truckers have killed many and injured several others in Ibadan, Oyo State, in recent times. The truck accidents left families in deep mourning. The disturbing part is that the incidents are preventable.

For Governor Seyi Makinde, whose sterling performance is the talk of the town among his supporters, visitors to Oyo State, including critics, this unsettling development is one that requires timely and adequate attention.

On February 2, 2026, a fuel-laden truck trapped a commercial Nissan Micra against a beverage truck marked ECQD 704 at the Iwo Road area of Ibadan. An elderly passenger died in the accident.

The impunity gathered momentum on March 24, 2026, when the driver of a truck laden with 45,000 litres of premium motor spirit reportedly lost control, killed six people and injured many others at the busy fruit market along the Oje-Beere route in the Ibadan South East Local Government Area of the state. Photos of the accident are unpleasant and enough to provoke far-reaching actions to rein in the careless truckers. 

Also on April 1, 2026, a truck accident left some dead and others injured in the Boluwaji area in the Ibadan South-East Local Government Area. A pre-teen was among the dead victims.

Again, on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at Soka Junction along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, another reckless truck driver caused a multi-vehicle-pedestrian accident.

The state police spokesperson, Ayanlade Olayinka, who said the incident occurred at about 10:10 p.m., stated that preliminary findings showed that the fatal accident was caused by a white HOWO truck driven by one Abdullahi Bashiru, who lost control of the vehicle.

The police spokesperson identified what truckers plying the state roads have become amid the nonexistence of sanctions: highway monsters. He noted that the driver was speeding and driving recklessly, running into pedestrians and multiple vehicles, including a Toyota Venza and a BMW. Two people lost their lives in the accident, and several others sustained varying degrees of injury. The Soka/Sanyo Bus Stop area has become notorious for cab, truck and motorcycle accidents. 

There are indeed several unreported cases across the state, but the foregoing are the ones the media found newsworthy or amplified on social media.  

One of the unreported, troubling cases is the one involving a young clothier knocked down on a commercial motorcycle by a heedless truck driver along Monatan, Iwo Road area of Ibadan. She was going to deliver an order for a client at the time. 

One of her legs was badly damaged and amputated about two weeks ago. A good-hearted Instagram influencer, caring for the lady with support from some kind-hearted Nigerians, facilitated the surgery. Her before-and-after pictures sadly reflect the price citizens pay for the truckers’ uninterrupted lunacy and incautious acts in the state. 

Another tragedy nearly occurred weeks ago when the driver of an interstate bus lost control and headed towards traders at the crowded Academy Market on Iwo Road, but was intercepted by a sturdy, metallic refuse container placed by the roadside. The driver simply abandoned the vehicle in the trading domain and returned leisurely the next day to pick it up. No sanction, no arrest, no warning!

In all the accidents, families of the dead were left deeply inconsolable, and the injured victims scarred for life, while errant drivers got a slap on the wrist if they were ever punished. This perhaps emboldens the continued truckers’ negligence on roads into and out of the state. The optics are not good for the peaceful and beautiful state. 

Government agencies such as the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority (OYRTMA), Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement Authority (OYRLEA) and the Oyo State Mobilisation Agency for Socio-Economic Development (OYMASED) must pull their weight to ensure enduring road orderliness, enforcement and citizen mobilisation.

Truckers, including private and commercial vehicle drivers, motorcyclists, and tricyclists, run red light at will, and long-haul vehicles are illegally parked on roads, sidewalks, verges, and medians unhindered in the state. The arguments over jurisdictions do not even count here. 

The impunity, arrogance and nonchalance on carriageways require punitive enforcement to enthrone sanity and awareness. The government’s tolerance shouldn’t be a licence for non-liability. Even in Lagos State, where severe sanctions haunt violators of traffic laws and arrests are made per second, there are still bullheaded drivers, let alone states that are lenient on disciplinary actions. 

The OYRTMA Chairman, Major Adekoya Adesagba (retd.), reportedly argued during a recent enforcement tour of the Iwo Road area that roadside trading chokes spaces, builds traffic congestion, and increases the risk of gridlocks and crashes. 

But it should be noted that blaming roadside trading alone for traffic menace and needless tanker accidents and deaths in the state is to narrow the broader picture. Roadside trading is not responsible for truck drivers’ insouciance, disregard for human life, speeding, brake failures, or unhealthy vehicles. 

It’s, however, not contestable that the government must ramp up efforts to take traders from the roadside to modern markets and enclosed trading spaces to reduce safety risks and environmental hazards.

There should be combined measures to tackle the issue, ranging from engaging the truckers’ union to sensitise members, to enforcing speed laws, to reinforcing time and route restrictions, to deploying technology to monitor errant drivers, to training and re-certifying truckers, to instituting anonymous methods for reporting dangerous driving, and to stricter punishment for traffic lawlessness.

Oyo State is a pacesetter and cannot afford to lower its guard on robust accident and traffic management measures. 

Gbenga Adeniji, a researcher, writes for Peoples Gazette and reachable via: gadeniji2001@gmail.com