22 die in Abuja, Kaduna road crashes

An accident sceneat Gada-Biyu village along the Abuja -Lokoja Highway in the Federal Capital Territory, yesterday

Twenty-two people have been confirmed dead in road accidents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State.

In FCT, 12 died on Sunday while three others sustained injuries, after a truck rammed into bystanders at Gada-Biyu village on the Abuja–Lokoja highway.

FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Felix Theman, confirmed the accident to our reporter via telephone on Sunday evening.

He said three vehicles—an 18-seater Sharon bus and two Volkswagen Golf cars—were involved in the crash.

According to him, the accident occurred at about 11:47am when a truck fully loaded with coal and coming at high speed from the Lokoja axis suddenly lost control and crashed into some bystanders, killing 12 persons on the spot.

Theman said those who died comprised four adult males, two adult females, four male children and two female children, adding that some of the victims were residents of Gada-Biyu who were waiting by the roadside to board vehicles.

He added that three other persons who sustained varying degrees of injuries were occupants of the affected vehicles and were rescued and taken to Abaji General Hospital for treatment.

The FRSC boss said the truck driver and his conductor fled the scene immediately after the incident, apparently to avoid mob action.

He said the 12 corpses had been handed over to their families for burial at Gada-Biyu.

He attributed the accident to speed limit violation, loss of control and dangerous driving on the part of the truck driver.

“The sector command will be meeting with the management of the company, because this is the second time we are receiving reports of such accidents involving the same truck along the Abuja–Lokoja highway,” he said.

He also disclosed that the sector had directed the Yangoji Unit Command of the FRSC to ensure that motorists who park by the roadside to pick up passengers are relocated to safer locations at Gada-Biyu.

Also, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kaduna State Sector Command on Sunday confirmed that 10 people died and four others sustained injuries in a road crash along Kachia-Jaba Road.

The command’s Assistant Public Relations Officer, Usman Garba, told LEADERSHIP that the accident occurred on Saturday and was caused by a tyre burst.

Garba explained that nine people died at the scene, while one of the five injured persons later succumbed to injuries at Kachia General Hospital, where they had been taken for medical attention. The victims’ bodies have been deposited at the hospital mortuary.

“The accident happened on 10th January 2026, along Kachia-Jaba Road, precisely at Kwaturu town. It was a multiple-vehicle crash involving two vehicles: a Tundra Hilux (registration KWL 212 TS) and a Volkswagen Golf AU 688 DAL, a commercial vehicle. Preliminary investigations indicate that a tyre burst caused the crash,” he said.

The FRSC spokesman added, “The accident involved seventeen persons in the crash, and we were able to rescue five of them to the hospital, and unfortunately, we lost nine people. The people in the two vehicles were seventeen; we lost nine. Five people injured were taken to Kachia General Hospital for medical attention.

“One among the five injured persons we rescued and taken to the hospital for medical attention died in the hospital, bringing the number of those who died in the crash to ten. The corpses were deposited at the Kachia General Hospital mortuary.”