55 die in separate road crashes in Nigeria

At least 55 people have been killed in two separate road crashes involving reckless overtaking and speeding in northern Nigeria, an official says.

“We have recorded 55 deaths in two road crashes on Sunday and Monday due to speeding and reckless overtaking,” said Yusuf Sani, the Nigerian Road Safety spokesman for Yobe state.

In the first incident on Monday, three vehicles collided with one another on the Potiskum-Maiduguri highway, killing 35 people including 19 church members on their way back from the southern city of Lagos, Sani emphasized.

“All the 19 members of Redeem Christian Church of God who were travelling in one bus were burnt beyond recognition as the bus caught fire on collision with the other two vehicles which also burst in flames shortly afterwards…The victims in the other two vehicles were returning from a wedding,” the official said, adding that the collision was the result of speeding.

In a separate event on Sunday, a van collided with an articulated truck due to “reckless overtaking,” killing 20 people of whom 16 were girls selling wares from a local market, Sani said.

Nigeria has one of the worst road accident records in Africa, with bad roads and poorly maintained vehicles playing major roles in the accidents.

Every year, thousands of people lose their lives as a result of road accidents in Nigeria.