The Anambra State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that at least 23 people lost their lives in road accidents in the state in one month.
The Sector Commander, Adeoye Irelewuyi, who spoke with journalists, said that a total of 33 road crashes were recorded within the last one month.
He said 72 persons sustained varying degrees of injury from the road crashes during the period, while attributing the crashes to speed limit violation.
He said 473 persons were arrested for various offenses, adding that they were all booked, while others were prosecuted.
“We commenced ‘Operation Zero Crash Special Patrol’ on December 17, 2021 which ended on Jan. 15, 2022. This is part of strategies targeted at minimizing road traffic crashes during the yuletide.
“The number of deaths increased compared to previous years. While we recorded 23 deaths within the period, seven deaths were recorded in 2020 and 2021.
“I want to tell you too that the state recorded a larger percentage of free traffic flow all through the yuletide, especially on the Niger Bridge.
“We were able to achieve free flow of traffic because there was collaboration with various security agencies as well as the governments of Anambra and Delta states.
“The Niger bridge traffic was flowing because we kept the bridge open. We had four toll trucks, two on both sides, which assisted in removing every obstruction as quickly as possible.
“The command also resolved that direct supervision would be needed to implement whatever strategy that we may have. That informed the temporal relocation of the Sector Commander to the commercial city,” he said.