A total of 1,076 men lost their lives in road traffic crashes in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of all road fatalities recorded in the period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.
The NBS disclosed this in its ‘Road Transport Data Q1 2026’ released on Tuesday.
The report showed that Nigeria recorded 2,720 road traffic crashes in Q1 2026.
This, the bureau said, represents a decrease of 0.40 per cent compared to the 2,731 crashes recorded in Q4 2025, and an increase of 2.64 per cent relative to the 2,650 crashes recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 (Q1 2025).
Severity of crashes
Disaggregation by severity shows that serious crashes accounted for the highest proportion with 1,761 cases, followed by fatal crashes with 714 cases, while minor crashes recorded the least with 245 cases.
Analysis of fatalities by gender, according to the statistics office indicates that males accounted for the majority of deaths.
“A total of 1,076 males were killed, representing 79.88 per cent of total fatalities, while 271 females were killed, accounting for 20.12 per cent,” the NBS said.
During the period under review, it said 6,547 males were injured, accounting for 76.35 per cent of the total injured persons, while 2,028 females were injured, representing 23.65 per cent.
It explained that the number of vehicles involved in road traffic crashes stood at 4,078 in Q1 2026, indicating an increase of 0.47 per cent compared to the 4,059 vehicles recorded in Q4 2025.
In terms of zonal distribution, it said the North-Central recorded the highest number of crashes with 752 cases, followed by the South-West with 699 cases, while the South-South recorded the least with 137 cases.
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With respect to casualties, the NBS said the North-West zone recorded the highest number with 2,675 casualties, followed by the North-Central with 2,544 casualties, while the South-South recorded the least with 402 casualties.
The NBS said data is provided by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The FRSC is the government agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration across Nigeria.
