By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
By any serious measure, Nigeria’s roads are getting busier—and deadlier.
Armed with hard numbers and an unmistakable warning, Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed mni, on Tuesday laid bare the stark realities of road safety in Nigeria, revealing that 10,446 road traffic crashes were recorded nationwide in 2025, a 9.2 per cent surge over the previous year, even as enforcement and rescue efforts struggled to keep pace with rising exposure and indiscipline.
At a press briefing on Operation Zero outing and presentation on the Corps’ full-year road traffic performance review, the FRSC boss made one thing clear: road safety is no longer a matter of intentions, it is a matter of data, discipline and deterrence.
Festive Roads, Fatal Consequences
The most damning figures came from the high-risk festive window between 15 December 2025 and 15 January 2026, traditionally Nigeria’s busiest travel season.
Within that single month:
687 crashes were recorded, up from 665 the previous year
5,942 persons were involved
597 lives were lost, a 4.2 per cent increase
2,522 people sustained injuries
Yet, amid the grim toll, one number stood out: 2,792 road users were rescued without injury, an improvement over the previous year evidence, the Corps Marshal noted, that emergency response is saving lives even as crashes increase.
“Speed remains the single greatest threat to life on Nigerian roads,” Mohammed said, stressing that enforcement and rescue are working but are being undermined by reckless behaviour.
A corridor-by-corridor breakdown revealed that Nigeria’s highways are fast becoming death traps.
Some of the worst-hit routes included: Zuba–Kaduna–Zaria: 67 injured, 39 deaths
Jos–Bauchi / Gombe–Bauchi–Darazo–Potiskum: 49 fatalities
Abuja–Lokoja: 28 deaths
Benin–Asaba–Awka: 17 injured, 12 deaths
MaiAdua–Daura–Kazaure–Dambata: 18 deaths
Enugu–Umuahia–Aba: 11 deaths
According to the FRSC Boss, most of these crashes were avoidable, driven by speeding, dangerous overtaking, brake failure, tyre bursts and loss of control failures tied directly to driver indiscipline and poor vehicle conditions.
Data from December 2025 showed that: 41 per cent of all crashes were caused by speed limit violations
Commercial buses were the most implicated vehicle category, involved in 339 crashes
87 per cent of crashes occurred between 6:00am and 7:59pm
The most dangerous window: 12:00pm–1:59pm
Geographically, the FCT Metropolis, Zuba–Kaduna–Zaria, and Lafia–Akwanga–Keffi–Goshen corridors recorded the highest crash volumes and fatalities, justifying intensified patrol dominance along these arteries.
As exposure increased, so did lawlessness.
In the 2025 festive operation alone:
29,317 offenders were apprehended (up 4%)
33,190 traffic offences were booked
1,276 offenders were arraigned before mobile courts
1,105 convictions were secured
On an annual basis, enforcement rose sharply:
581,332 offenders arrested in 2025, up 28.3% from 2024
648,918 offences booked, a 30.6% increase
Corps Marshal described the figures as evidence of “firm, fair and visible enforcement”, warning that where compliance fails, deterrence must rise.
Despite the spike in crashes, total fatalities declined slightly year-on-year:
5,289 deaths in 2025, down from 5,421 in 2024
132 lives saved, a 2.4 per cent reduction
This occurred against a backdrop of surging mobility:
Passenger traffic rose to 47.47 million
Vehicle movements increased to 3.74 million
Total distance travelled jumped to 4.88 billion kilometres
While the Corps Marshal credited improved rescue and post-crash response for the lives saved, he admitted the reduction fell far short of the strategic 10 per cent target.
“The challenge before us is no longer a response alone,” he said. “It is prevention, compliance and deterrence.”
In a sweeping policy directive for 2025–2026, Mohammed declared an end to business as usual.
Key orders include:
Intelligence-led, risk-based enforcement replacing routine patrols
Creation of Crash Intelligence Desks at all Sector Commands
Zero tolerance for the ‘Big Five’ offences—spending, dangerous driving, drunk or drugged driving, wrong-way driving and overloading
Aggressive speed management and full enforcement of speed-limiting devices on commercial vehicles
Quarterly command scorecards tied directly to crash and fatality reduction
“The rising number of crashes is not an act of fate,” Mohammed warned. “It is a failure of compliance. Where discipline collapses, enforcement must rise.”
With Nigeria’s roads carrying more people, more vehicles and more economic activity than ever before, the FRSC boss made the Corps’ mandate unmistakably clear:
Prevent crashes. Enforce compliance. Save lives.
