A total of 29 people were confirmed dead in Jigawa State following two separate road accidents in the Dutse and Ringim Local Government Areas on Tuesday and last Thursday.
Tuesday’s crash occurred in Dutse and involved two Volkswagen Golf cars and a tipper truck.
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The Jigawa Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Umar Matazu, confirmed that 18 passengers lost their lives in the head-on collision along the Dutse–Kwanar Huguma road.
Mr Matazu told reporters that the accident occurred around 1:00 p.m. when one vehicle suffered a tyre burst while travelling at high speed.
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He said the driver lost control, crossed into the opposite lane, and collided head-on with an oncoming Golf car. Moments later, a tipper truck travelling in the same lane crashed into their wreckage.
One of the Golf cars was reportedly carrying 14 family members travelling to a wedding ceremony. There were no survivors from that vehicle. The victims included men, women, and children.
Mr Matazu said Tuesday’s accident in Dutse followed a similar fatal accident last Thursday along the Ringim–Kano highway near Bagewu village.
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That lone accident involved a red Golf 3 saloon, driven by a 45-year-old man from Katsina State, which was severely overloaded with 20 passengers—six men, eight women, and six children.
While in motion, Mr Matazu said the vehicle’s front tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a tree. The accident resulted in 11 deaths and nine injuries.
He said the passengers were travelling from Ningi LGA in Bauchi State to Mani LGA in Katsina State.
The FRSC has repeatedly identified overspeeding and overloading as the leading causes of road fatalities in Jigawa State.
READ ALSO: Jigawa partners NASSI to combat child malnutrition through local empowerment
Mr Matazu lamented that some drivers, especially those using the Volkswagen, abuse the vehicle’s capacity, which often results in deadly crashes.
A vehicle designed to carry five people is frequently used by commercial drivers to carry 15 to 20 passengers. He said this puts immense pressure on the suspension and tyres.
High speed, combined with the excessive weight of an overloaded vehicle, significantly increases the internal temperature of tyres. This leads to the “tyre bursts” that were witnessed in both accidents in Dutse and Ringim.
The FRSC continues to urge commuters to reject boarding overloaded vehicles and has called on transport unions to enforce passenger limits at motor parks strictly.
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