The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it recorded 5,320 road crashes and 2,471 deaths in the first half of 2021 nationwide.

The Corps Public Education Officer Bisi Kazeem disclosed this on Monday in Abuja.

Mr Kazeem added that the recorded crashes and deaths occurred between January and June 2021, adding that the corps had not relented its efforts at reducing carnage on the highways.

He also said the crashes involved 8,808 vehicles, adding that 2,471 people were killed.

He further stated that 15,882 people sustained various injuries, while 15,398 were rescued from the crashes without injuries. He said this brought to 33,751 the number of people involved in the crashes nationwide first six months.

Mr Kazeem noted that in the period under review, available statistics showed that in January alone, the FRSC recorded a total of 923 crashes across the country.

Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa had the highest number of crashes with 148. The FRSC spokesman noted that in February, the corps recorded 808 crashes nationwide, with 121 in Lagos and Ogun.

“In March, the corps recorded 959 RTCs with most crashes, 140, also occurring in Zone RS2. In April, 955 RTCs occurred nationwide, with Zone RS 4, comprising Plateau, Nasarawa, and Benue recording 128, the highest in any zone,” explained the FRSC official. “In the month of May, we recorded 936 crashes across the country, with a total of 158 occurred in RS 2 Lagos zone. In June, a total of 739 RTCs were recorded across the country.”

The FRSC spokesman said that the corps also arrested 261,005 offenders nationwide between January and June for committing 281,765 road traffic offences.

He noted that mobile courts, set up by FRSC, tried thousands of traffic offenders within the first half of the year and appropriately sanctioned them.