In Jalingo, riding on a bike is a sure way to the grave

Riding on a commercial motorcycle in Jalingo appears synonymous with signing a death warrant, especially with the increased rate of fatal motorcycle accidents on the roads and streets of the old town. At the treatment room of the Accident and Emergency Department of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, screams of children rent the iodine soaked […]

Riding on a commercial motorcycle in Jalingo appears synonymous with signing a death warrant, especially with the increased rate of fatal motorcycle accidents on the roads and streets of the old town.

At the treatment room of the Accident and Emergency Department of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, screams of children rent the iodine soaked air. Two school children were being treated of head wounds sustained when hit by a motorcycle. Sitting by the side was the bike rider with a frown. Maybe due to the biting pain from the bruises on his legs or out of guilt for the pain the children were going through.

Umaru Mohammed, the bike rider said he ran into the two boys while they were crossing the road at Gindin Dorowa area of Jalingo. He said he had been riding for the past six years but that was the first time he had an accident. He blamed the poor children for not checking the road well before crossing. Mohammed said he was a commercial motorcyclist but admitted he was not registered as a member of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN).

It has been observed that many riders of Mohammed’s calibre ply the roads and streets of Jalingo unregulated. During electioneering campaigns, politicians doled out hundreds of motorbikes to unemployed young men in Jalingo, to woo their support and ostensibly, to alleviate poverty. But these bikes are now becoming death traps as accidents involving them within Jalingo town and environs are proving to be fatal.

In the past three months, over 535 motorcycle accidents occurred in Jalingo town alone. Between April and June, 535 accident victims were taken to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, and seven of the victims died before and while receiving treatment at the unit, according to official figures at the hospital.

Yahaya Musa, a nurse at the A&E unit of FMC told Weekly Trust that more deaths resulting from motorcycle accidents occur since some of the victims either die at the main wards of the hospital or at home after they have already been discharged and such deaths cannot be accounted for by the unit.

Though the FMC is centrally located and most of the accident victims are taken there, the possibilities that some are taken to Specialist Hospital and some other private hospitals within the town are also high. Some may not be taken to the hospitals at all.

But the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Taraba, Mrs. Mary Wakawa, gives a conservative figure of the accidents. She admits the increase in volumes of motorcycles has also resulted to increase in the number of motorcycle accidents on the roads and streets of Jalingo town. She pegs the rate at three motorcycle accidents per day, “with just some few being very fatal,” she added.

However, she said: “The rates are not too alarming but to say they are not happening is an understatement. Some of them are now becoming fatal and that is our concern.”

Last Saturday, two commercial motorcycles had a head on collision along Jekadafari road and one of the riders died on the spot.

A nursing official at the A&E unit of the FMC, Jalingo said the other rider died 30 minutes later while receiving treatment.

He added that the two victims were both carrying passengers, Jamila Audu and Jacob David but were lucky to escape with just bruises and so were treated and discharged, saying they were brought to the FMC by an eyewitness, Ibrahim Filibus and a policeman at about 10 in the morning.

The two motorcycles were damaged and were taken to the Motor Traffic Department (MTD) of the police. The damaged motorcycles were however, not registered and the riders too did not have any form of identification so it took the efforts of the Social Welfare Department of the FMC for the corpses to be claimed.

Residents have observed that the accident rates are increasing because most of the riders are incompetent. They said some of the riders were water hawkers (Mairuwa) and since the rains have come and water business is no longer booming, some have decided to convert to commercial motorcyclists without the requisite knowledge of riding. Worst still, most of them are illiterates and do not understand traffic rules.

Sanusi Bashir is the acting chairman of ACOMORAN, Jalingo branch, and he said the association is aware that motorcycle accident rates in the town are going up but they do not always involve their members. He said it is wrong for the FRSC and the public to think that every motorcycle accident in the town is caused by a commercial motorcyclist.

According to him, the association ensures that prospective members are qualified riders before they are registered as members. He said one has to be an adult before one is registered as a member. “We are mindful of what immature minds can cause other road users so we ensure that all our members are above 18 years,” he added.

He also said all the members of the association have identity cards and they also ensure that the motorcycles they are riding are properly registered with the appropriate authorities, stressing that members of the association are law abiding citizens.

“It is wrong for anybody to think that commercial motorcyclists are lawless people who flout traffic laws at will. We insist that all our members must observe and abide by the laws of the land. Once our member flouts a law and is arrested, we do not even bail him,” he said.

But Mrs Wakawa has said the corps is working towards reactivating driving schools where proficiency in riding a motorbike will be an ‘A’ requirement for certification. “This is not something new but it has died down so we need to reactivate it. We understand that enforcement alone cannot guarantee accident free roads but if we go to the basis, we believe we would have achieved considerable reduction in road clashes, not just those involving motorcycles but other vehicles,” she said.

She lamented that when politicians give out the motorcycles to mostly some illiterate youths, they do not have the patience of learning to ride before hitting the road, which she said, has been responsible for the high rates of accidents involving motorbikes.

But she said FRSC is trying to work out a synergy with the police, ministry of information, traditional rulers and motorcycle riders association so as to find a solution towards curtailing the rampant accidents.