By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it recorded 687 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) and rescued 2,792 victims during the 2025 Operation Zero Tolerance nationwide.
The FRSC Corps Marshal, Malam Shehu Mohammed, disclosed this in Abuja during a news briefing on the outcome of the operation and the corps’ 2025 performance.
According to him, in the spirit of accountability and transparency, the briefing presents a concise, evidence-based assessment of RTCs trends recorded in 2025.
He said this was with specific focus on the December festive operation and comparative year-on-year performance.
According to him, road safety outcomes were not measured by intentions, but by data.
“The FRSC remains firmly committed to evidence-based interventions and today’s briefing is anchored strictly on empirical analysis of RTCs recorded in 2025.
“This is with particular emphasis on the December 2025 festive operation and year-on-year performance.
“Total RTCs rose from 665 in 2024/2025 to 687 in 2025/2026, representing a 3.4 per cent increase. The number of persons involved increased from 5,761 to 5,942.
“Fatalities rose from 571 to 597, a 4.2 per cent increase. Injuries also increased from 2,462 to 2,522. However, those rescued without injury rose from 2,697 to 2,792, reflecting improved rescue and emergency response outcomes.
“These figures demonstrate that while interventions saved lives, risky road user behaviour continues to undermine safety during peak travel periods.”
He added that analysis of Operation Zero for 2025/2026 showed that the most severe crashes were concentrated along key interstate and peri-urban corridors with several single crash incidents resulting in mass casualties.
He said that locations such as Benin-Asaba-Awka recorded 17 injured and 12 deaths; Zuba-Kaduna-Zaria recorded 67 injured and 39 deaths.
He also said that 49 lives were lost in Jos-Bauchi, and Gombe-Bauchi-Darazo-Potiskum route, while Abuja-Lokoja route had 28 lives lost, Mai Adua-Daura-Kazaure-Dambata 18, while Enugu-Umuahia-Aba recorded 11 fatalities.
“These largely avoidable crashes were primarily caused by speeding, dangerous overtaking, loss of control, tyre burst and brake failure, clear indicators of reckless driving and poor vehicle condition,” he said.
The FRSC boss said that corridor-based analysis confirmed that crash concentration remained highest along national mobility arteries.
According to him, in December 2025 alone, the FCT Metropolis corridor recorded 97 crashes, followed by Zuba–Kaduna–Zaria with 86 crashes, and Lafia–Akwanga–Keffi–Goshen with 80 crashes.
“These same corridors also accounted for the highest fatality burden, justifying sustained patrol dominance, speed enforcement and targeted intervention along high-risk routes.”
Mohammed also said that vehicle involvement analysis further showed that buses were the most implicated vehicle category.
He said they accounted for 339 crash cases in December 2025 reinforcing the corps’ zero tolerance posture on commercial driver indiscipline, fatigue driving and speed abuse.
He added that severity analysis revealed that Jos zone recorded the highest severity index at 0.18 and accounted for 11.4 per cent of total crashes within the period under review.
“This is indicating a disproportionate fatality to crash ratio requiring sustained operational focus,” he said.
He further disclosed that operationally, Kaduna Sector Command recorded the highest number of crashes (71), while zonal command Kaduna led all zones with 146 crashes, prompting command specific operational recalibration.
“Temporal analysis further shows that 87 per cent of crashes occurred between 06:00hrs and 19:59hrs, with a pronounced peak between 12:00hrs and 13:59hrs while Wednesdays recorded the highest crash frequency.
“These patterns have direct implications for deployment timing, patrol intensity and enforcement scheduling.
“Causation analysis remains unequivocal. Speed limit violation accounted for 41 per cent of all identified causes of road traffic crashes within the period under review.
“Speed remains the single greatest threat to life on Nigerian roads. The data is clear; speed kills, indiscipline sustains crashes, and disciplined enforcement saves lives,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Deborah Coker
