The Ogun State sector commander, Ahmed Umar, lamented that majority of the accidents on the road was caused by excessive speeding by drivers who reportedly took advantage of the expansion.
Umar who spoke during the unveiling of a new administrative building for the Ogunmakin unit command, stressed that the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway posed the greatest challenge to the regular and special marshals in terms of traffic control, accident prevention, and crash response.
The unveiling of the new administrative building which was named after the Corp Marshall Dauda Biu took place at the unit command located at Alapako-Aro Village, Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
On efforts made by the FRSC to reduce accidents on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Umar said the corps provided road-side clinic in Sagamu and partnered with some private clinics along the expressway to take care of road accident victims.
He added, “We have road-side clinic in Sagamu and I believe mobility from here to Sagamu is not less than 15 minutes if there is no obstruction on the road. We have another private clinic in Ogere that takes care of road accident victims. We are making effort to have another road-side clinic here in Ogunmakin.
“The major cause of road crash on this expressway is speeding which we can attribute to the nature of this road. Because of the expansion and smoothness of the road, people speed unnecessarily.
“What the FRSC do is that, we are giving more enhanced logistics of new patrol vehicles. In less than 7km, you will see our patrol vehicle, and that is how you will be seeing different patrol vehicles throughout the stretch of the expressway. This is a way to ensure there is prompt response to accident victims.”
The unit commander of Ogunmakin Unit, Phillip Gogomi, hinted that efforts were ongoing to build a RTC clinic.
He said, “It is our prayer that approval of such request will be granted with deployment of well qualified medical personnel, equipment, and drugs to furnish the clinic.
“This will go a long way to reduce the rate of deaths from RTC recorded due to distance from crash scene to the nearest hospital.”
In his lecture, the Vice-chancellor of McPherson University, Prof. Adegbaye Igbasan, commended the Ogun FRSC for their support to the members of staff of the university and its visitors, adding that they were working professionally to ensure safety for all road users.
Igbasan who described accidents on Nigeria’s roads as needless, stressed that every Nigerian should be stakeholders in preaching adherence to traffic rules and regulations.
