The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dauda Ali Biu, on Monday, urged motorists to desist from travelling at night, overloading their vehicles and driving beyond lawful speed limits.
Biu gave the warning following the death of 17 persons in two separate road crashes that occurred in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State on Monday.
While the FCT accident occurred around the Fire Service Academy along Yangoji-Gwagwalada expressway, the other incident took place at Tashar Yari Village along Zaria-Kano Expressway in Kaduna State in the early hours of Monday.
Citing the report by the Corps Crash Investigation Team, the FRSC spokesperson, ACM Jonas Agwu, said the Tashan Yari Village crash which occurred at 07:36am involved a trailer overloaded with grains and had 40 passengers on top of the goods.
Agwu said the trailer with registration number KTG 454 ZZ was on a night trip enroute Kano from Azare in Bauchi State when the accident occurred.
He disclosed that the incident occurred as a result of wrongful overtaking, driving beyond speed limit as well as overloading the vehicle with goods and passengers.
The FRSC spokesperson said 12 persons, out of the 40 passengers, lost their lives while the remaining 28 sustained different degrees of injuries.
Similarly, the FRSC spokesperson said at 04:35am, a Peugeot J5 bus registered as XF 530GRK rammed into a stationary trailer, which broke down, along Abuja-Lokoja Expressway between Yangoji and Gwagwalada.
Agwu said that five persons were burnt beyond recognition when the vehicle later burst into flames following the impact of the crash.
He further noted that the crash report attributed the cause of both accidents to speed violation resulting to loss of control.
