By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development (FENRAD) has raised alarm over recurring fatal road accidents along the Waterside–Ogbor Hill corridor in Aba, Abia State, warning that persistent loss of lives on the busy route now constitutes a serious human rights and public safety crisis.

In a press release dated February 7, 2026, and signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, the organisation expressed “grave concern over the persistent and tragic loss of lives resulting from recurring road traffic accidents” in the area, describing the corridor as “one of the most accident-prone areas in the state.”

FENRAD attributed the repeated crashes to “heavy vehicular congestion, uncontrolled traffic movement, pedestrian exposure, and poor road safety infrastructure,” noting that the situation has led to “avoidable deaths, serious injuries, and destruction of livelihoods.”

The group stressed that the Waterside–Ogbor Hill axis functions as a major commercial and transportation hub with intense daily traffic, warning that the absence of “modern traffic engineering solutions—such as flyovers, overhead pedestrian bridges, and effective traffic flow systems—has significantly worsened congestion and increased the risk of fatal accidents.”

It therefore called on the Abia State Government under the watch of Dr. Alex Otti to urgently provide “critical infrastructure, including the construction of flyovers and pedestrian bridges, as well as comprehensive road redesigns to effectively separate vehicular and human traffic,” stating that such measures are necessary to “reduce congestion and eliminate dangerous conflict points.”

Beyond physical infrastructure, FENRAD urged authorities to conduct “an independent traffic, environmental, and social impact assessment” and introduce modern traffic control systems, proper signage, speed-calming mechanisms, strict enforcement of road safety rules, and sustained public sensitisation.

Emphasising the human cost of inaction, the organisation declared that “road safety is a human rights issue,” adding that “when citizens repeatedly lose their lives due to poor traffic management and unsafe infrastructure, urgent corrective action becomes a moral and constitutional obligation.”

FENRAD further called on government ministries, road safety agencies, urban planners, and traffic authorities to “collaborate transparently and act without delay,” while urging civil society groups, community leaders, and the media to sustain advocacy for lasting, life-saving solutions.

The organisation reaffirmed its commitment to “environmental justice, sustainable development, and the protection of human rights,” pledging continued engagement to ensure residents of Aba and Abia State enjoy “safe, efficient, and humane transportation infrastructure.”

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