7 Most Dangerous Roads to Travel in Nigeria

Nigeria is fast winning the trophy for
being the country with the “most
dangerous roads to travel,” and this is
not unrelated to the number of lives that
are lost daily on the nation’s roads.

According to the Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC), over 150,000 lives
are lost annually all around the country
as a result road-related incidents, and
these range from –

- Traffic accidents
- Armed robbery
- Open gullies
- Police traffic checkpoints
- Unmarked corners
- Unlit roads

- Abandoned broken-down vehicles
Some of the most dangerous roads to
travel in Nigeria are as following –

i. Abuja-Lokoja-Okene-Kabba: If you have
travelled from anywhere in the
Southwest of Nigeria to Abuja through
the Lokoja-Okene road in Kogi State,
then you will understand that this is a
road of death. Not only is this road bad,
it is a haven of armed robbers.

Thousands of passengers travelling the
Lokoja-Okene road to Abuja or to Ondo
State have been waylaid by armed
bandits and dispossessed of their goods.
The same can be said of the Ilorin-
Kabba-Lokoja road and the Lokoja-
Obajana-Kabba road among others
along that same axis.

ii. Lagos-Sagamu-Ore-Benin road: An
analyst noted that “If there is any road
in the country that has portrayed
successive governments in the country
in bad light as failed governments in the
last two decades, it is the Lagos-Sagamu
–Ore –Benin road.” This road is not only
bad and terrible for motorists, it is also
a den of robbers where unfortunate
passengers have been robbed and raped
if their vehicles break down along the
road. Travelling through the road is like
travelling through the valley of the
shadow of death.

iii. Lagos-Ibadan expressway: Constructed
in 1974, the 120-kilometre highway is
the only major road linking Lagos to
Ibadan and other states within and
beyond the Southwest of the Nigeria.
The FRSC reported that in 2012 that 775
people died in 2,075 accidents along this
road. The main dangers along this major
expressway linking other states to Lagos
is that of unmotorable road and
frequent accidents, largely caused by oil
tankers and overspeeding vehicles on
the expressway filled with potholes.

iv. Okigwe-Umuahia road: The ever-busy
Enugu Port Harcourt expressway has
always been a death trap for commuters.
While road contractors hired to repair
and maintain the road had abandoned it
due to funds not being released by the
government, the roads have fallen into
terrible disrepair and become a death-
trap for motorists and passengers alike.

v. Otukpo-Otukpa road in Makurdi: It is

vii. Kaduna-Abuja road: The Kaduna
highway links many states in the north
of the country to Abuja but boasts of
over 400 potholes. In fact, the state of
the road bears no image of a channel
that links major states in the north to
the Federal Capital Territory. An 18-
seater Hummer bus was once involved
in a ghastly motor accident that caused
the loss of 14 lives along this road – they
were all burnt to death beyond
recognition. The vehicle had been
coming from Kano State to Abuja. that Otukpo and Otukpa roads are
both within Makurdi in Benue State, this
is a major road where craters, gulley
erosion, potholes, and even dare-devil
robbers rule the road. From Otukpa to
Otukpo, the ancestral home of Idoma
kingdom; you’d be forced to dance
along with your vehicle to no rhythm
for close to four hours in the journey,
which ought not to last for about one or
2 hours. A columnist wrote that “For
regular travelers, the thought of
venturing on Otukpa-Otukpo road is the
beginning of a journey into
uncertainties, eternity or the easiest way
of booking appointment with fate and
grave, nay a way of bring money for
nearby coffin makers.”

vi. Enugu-Awka-Onitsha road: The
deplorable state of the highway linking
Enugu, Awka, and Onitsha has forced
hundreds of motorists to abandon the
road and reroute via the old road from
Udi to Awka. Several people have died
in traffic accidents occurring on this
road, and it continues to be a serious
headache to passengers and motorists
alike.

vii. Kaduna-Abuja road: The Kaduna
highway links many states in the north
of the country to Abuja but boasts of
over 400 potholes. In fact, the state of
the road bears no image of a channel
that links major states in the north to
the Federal Capital Territory. An 18-
seater Hummer bus was once involved
in a ghastly motor accident that caused
the loss of 14 lives along this road – they
were all burnt to death beyond
recognition. The vehicle had been
coming from Kano State to Abuja.

vii. Kaduna-Abuja road: The Kaduna
highway links many states in the north
of the country to Abuja but boasts of
over 400 potholes. In fact, the state of
the road bears no image of a channel
that links major states in the north to
the Federal Capital Territory. An 18-
seater Hummer bus was once involved
in a ghastly motor accident that caused
the loss of 14 lives along this road – they
were all burnt to death beyond
recognition. The vehicle had been
coming from Kano State to Abuja.