The Zone Rs 5 Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) announced on Friday that 278 deaths were recorded in Edo, Delta and Anambra between January and September this year.
The Commanding Officer of the zone, Mr Kehinde Adeleye, made the disclosure in Benin in an interview with a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Adeleye said that 1,492 people were also injured in 492 road accidents recorded within the period.
He said that about 157 cases were recorded as fatal, while 283 cases were documented as serious with 52 cases reported as minor.
The commander explained, however, that between July and September, about 90 people were reported killed in the zone in 168 road accidents with 481 people injured.
Adeleye said that 56 cases were also reported as fatal with 89 recorded as serious and 23 reported as minor incidents in three months from July to September.
The officer said that the zone had put machinery in motion to ensure a drastic reduction of road traffic crashes in the zone in the remaining months of this year.
He said the command would be collaborating with other agencies the `ember monthsโ to curb road traffic crashes drastically.
According to him, the collaboration will entail joint deployment of personnel and logistics to ensure that the roads were safe for motorists and other road users, especially in accident-prone areas on the highways.
Adeleye said that the command had sought the intervention of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency and the Federal Ministry of Works to fix bad sports on the highways.
He said the command had also been talking with governors in the three states, to repair failed portions of roads to prevent accidents.
Adeleye said that special marshals and traffic management officers in the three states were being sensitised on traffic management, ahead of the `emberโ months.
