Group EFTAI Marks One Year of Campaign, Demands Urgent Action on Deadly Felele Road
Lokoja – April 21, 2026
A civic group, Enough Of Felele Truck Accident Initiative, has marked 365 days of daily advocacy over recurring fatal crashes on Felele Road, Lokoja, and renewed calls on the Kogi State and Federal Governments to fix the route.
In a press statement released Tuesday and signed by its Convener, Onibiyo E’Dayo, the group asked: “WHEN WILL KOGI STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA STOP KILLING PEOPLE ON FELELE ROAD?”
Felele Road links Abuja to the West, North Central, East and other parts of the country. According to EFTAI, between 2024 and 2026 the road has claimed “not less than twenty students’ lives” alongside hundreds of other deaths involving final year students, lecturers, workers and children. Several of the crashes resulted in infernos with victims “burnt beyond recognition,” the statement said.
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The group said it had, for one year since April 24, 2025, “daily canvassed” both the Kogi State Government under Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo and the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the issue. It alleged that responses from the state had become “mere ritual addresses” with no action.
EFTAI also criticized two higher institutions located along the road, Federal University Lokoja and Kogi State Polytechnic, for “doing absolutely nothing” to press authorities despite repeated letters sent to former Vice Chancellor Prof. Akinwunmi and former Rector Dr. Usman Ogbo. The group said it received “not even acknowledgement” from them.
It further noted that the immediate past Kogi State Commissioner for Works, Engr. Mohammed Avohi Yusuf, received daily copies of its campaign through the ministry’s official page.
*Issues Identified*
The statement listed several factors behind the crashes:
1. *Road user behavior* — particularly “careless” okada and tricycle riders. The group said it produced handbills, jingles, and flyers in six languages — Hausa, Igbo, Ebira, Okun, Igala, and Pidgin — for sensitization.
2. *Steep gradient* from the Crusher end of the road, which aids “free fall of mostly overloaded trucks… operating at almost zero brake efficiency” due to heat on the wheels.
3. *Inexperienced drivers* — cases of motor boys learning to drive being allowed to handle trucks into town.
4. *No shoulders* for vehicles to park or use as escape routes.
*Proposed Solutions*
EFTAI said it does not claim to have all the answers but offered interim and long-term suggestions:
1. Temporary closure of the road to heavy traffic during peak hours.
2. A diversion before Crusher into a large hanger park where trucks must check brakes, rest, fix faults, and cool down. A second rest point should be set at Nataco entry.
3. Redesigned routes with slowed curves inside the park to help trailers recover from brake failure before rejoining Felele Road via a short exit.
The group directly addressed new office holders, asking Kogi Works Commissioner Bar. Deedat Ozigi, Kogi Poly Rector Prof. Sanusi Avidime, and FUL Vice Chancellor Prof. Gbenga Solomon Ibileye whether they would raise the issue with higher authorities or “pass it on” to successors.
It also posed questions to Governor Ododo — “Two years gone and many still dying… how many more innocent souls should be wasted before you fix the road?” — and to President Tinubu — “How long will you turn deaf ears to this solvable problem…?”
*Appeal to the Public*
EFTAI urged Nigerians and road users worldwide to “cry endlessly” on both governments to fix the road. It called on the public to “occupy all pages, medium and handles” of Kogi and Federal Government platforms, and asked influential citizens to “speak the truth to power” about the proposed solutions.
The statement closed with a note of accountability: “To all in power… hope you know you will one day stand before God to explain your roles, inclusive your inaction?”
The press statement was dated Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, APRIL 21ST 2026)
