Lawmakers Adopt 5-Point Resolution After Six Die in Fresh Carnage • Orders Emergency Probe • FRSC, Police, NDLEA, Transport Ministry Drafted Into Investigation
YOLA — Blood on the tarmac has finally forced the Adamawa State House of Assembly into action. Rattled by the relentless toll of fatal crashes along the Yola–MAU–Girei corridor, lawmakers on Monday adopted a sweeping five-point resolution to confront what many now openly call a road safety emergency.
The Assembly moved barely days after a horrific crash on September 4, 2026 tore through the route, killing six people — among them students of Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola — in a tragedy that has left the state reeling.
Presiding over the session, Speaker Rt. Hon. Bathiya Wesley ordered the House’s Standing Committee on Transport to launch an immediate, comprehensive investigation into both the remote and immediate causes behind the corridor’s grim accident record.
The committee has been mandated to pull in every relevant enforcement and regulatory body — the Adamawa State Ministry of Transport, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Nigeria Police Force, the state’s Traffic Management Authorities, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Vehicle Inspection Officers, and others — for a coordinated crackdown.
Lawmakers further directed the panel to design both stopgap and long-term interventions to drastically cut crash rates along the corridor. Measures on the table include:
. Tighter traffic enforcement and speed monitoring
. Rigorous vehicle inspection and roadworthiness checks
. Deployment of additional traffic personnel to accident-prone points
. Installation of road signs and construction of speed breakers where needed
. Intensified public enlightenment campaigns targeting motorists, riders and commuters
The committee has just two weeks to report back to the House — a tight deadline that signals how seriously lawmakers are treating the mounting danger. The Assembly also extended condolences to the families of the six lives lost in the September 4 tragedy.
The motion was sponsored by Hon. Calvin Kefas, member representing Toungo Constituency, who did not mince words on the scale of the crisis. He described the Yola–MAU–Girei road as a lifeline used daily by thousands of students, civil servants, traders and commercial operators — and squarely blamed reckless driving, excessive speed, dangerous overtaking and carelessness, particularly among commercial cyclists and heavy-duty vehicle operators, for the mounting death toll.
Debate on the floor was heated. Majority Leader Hon. Kate Raymond Mamuno (Demsa) called the crashes a matter of grave concern to the entire state and pushed for a permanent fix — dualisation of the road — to match its swelling traffic volume. Deputy Speaker Hon. Muhammed Buba Jidjiwa demanded immediate intervention, while the member for Mayo-Belwa commiserated with bereaved families and urged decisive action to stop further tragedy.
Hon. Muhammed Babangida Njidda (Nasarawo-Binyeri) painted a starker picture still — a “dangerous combination” of bad roads, bad driving and unroadworthy vehicles compounding the risk, with allegations that some motorists and riders were operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He called for tougher enforcement and monitoring to root out the practice.
Speaker Wesley voiced dismay at the frequency of the crashes and appealed to motorists and commuters to prioritize their own safety and that of others on the road. But he also cautioned against blanket restrictions that could punish innocent residents who depend on the route for their livelihoods.
He pointed specifically to the communities around Hayin Gada, Federal Housing, Sangere and Girei, warning that a proposed ban on tricycle movement between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. could hit civil servants, traders and other residents hard, choking off their daily transportation and income.
Calling the motion timely and necessary, the Speaker said the crisis strikes at the heart of what lawmakers were elected to protect — the safety of their people. Other members, including Rt. Hon. Kabiru Mijinyawa (Yola South) and Hon. Sahabo Yohanna Jauro (Mubi South), also weighed in during the debate.
With the two-week clock now ticking, all eyes turn to the Transport Committee and the road safety agencies tasked with delivering answers. The question hanging over Adamawa is stark and unavoidable:
How many more lives must the Yola–MAU–Girei road claim before it gets the urgent intervention it so desperately needs?
