Traffic Lights Fail in Abuja, Causing More Accidents and Jam

In major areas of Abuja, broken traffic lights are causing more accidents and heavy traffic jams.

Drivers and residents told PREMIUM TIMES that Bolingo Junction at Church Gate has become a dangerous spot for crashes.

"I can even say there are accidents there every day," Onehr Ali, a commercial driver, said.

"The kind of accident that occurs at this junction, they are always serious ones. Because everybody just passes anyhow, and mostly speeding," another driver, John Onome, added at Church Gate.

The commercial drivers mentioned that faulty traffic lights at some intersections are causing confusion and increasing the chances of crashes.

"When the traffic light is not functioning, vehicles coming from this side will meet those coming from the other side," Mr Ali explained. He added that this confusion often leads to accidents.

PREMIUM TIMES noticed similar non-working traffic lights in several important areas of the city, including Jabi Park, Utako Junction, Wadata Plaza in Zone 5, ITC, Bullet, Gudu Junction, and Orange Garden Zone 2. This leaves drivers and commuters without proper direction.

Some traffic lights seen by our reporter are either broken, not working, or malfunctioning.

Jabi Area Issues

In the Jabi area, many traffic signals at major intersections are not working, with at least six faulty lights identified.

One light, meant to help drivers at the intersection between the garage and the T junction, was broken.

A conductor from the garage, Chukwuebuka, said the light was damaged by an overloaded truck and has not been fixed since.

"It was an overloaded truck that hit it while passing through one night. It has been there like that for over six months," he said, noting that many traffic lights in the area have not worked since he started his job at the park over six months ago.

This newspaper also found that pedestrian signals are damaged and not working at nearly all major intersections in the city, including Wuse Market, the Central Business District (CBD), Utako, Arab Junction, Berger Junction, and Jabi District.

Even in places where the main traffic lights are still operational, the pedestrian signals often do not work, leading to confusion for drivers and pedestrians.

In August, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) announced a new policy to handle traffic light violations in Abuja.

The organizations said this policy was created to reduce traffic light violations as part of urban renewal efforts under FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

The new policy includes deploying a special task force to patrol key areas, arrest violators, and enforce traffic laws.

Offenders may face strict penalties, including medical and psychological evaluations.

Despite this, our reporter saw that violations still happen in the city center.

Drivers often ignore traffic lights and signals.

"Drivers don’t obey the traffic light, even when the light says red, they will still drive past, knowing that there is no consequence for their action," Muhammed Yusuf, a resident of Abuja, complained.

Reports and Official Responses

Illyasu Tijani, the FRSC FCT sector commander, said while the commission can work without traffic signals, having them makes their job easier.

"The presence of traffic lights will lessen stress and help to improve the performance of our officers," he said.

He explained that keeping over 200 traffic lights operational in the city center is challenging since they can break down.

"There are so many traffic lights in FCT, we have about 200 plus junctions where we have traffic lights inside the city center. I think about 217. And you know they are electrical and mechanical and some of them develop faults over time," Mr Tijani said.

He stated that when a traffic light breaks down, they notify the appropriate authority. Some can be easily fixed, while others need full replacement, which takes longer.

On traffic violations like running red lights and driving against traffic, he said the commission is working with courts to secure convictions, suspend drivers’ licenses, and require psychological evaluations for offenders.

"Concerning the people that follow one way and the people that beat the traffic light, we are subjecting them for psychological evaluation," he added.

He noted that some drivers may have health issues affecting their ability to drive safely.

Repairs and Future Plans

Okey Ichie, the Director of Traffic Management at the FCTA, told PREMIUM TIMES that the directorate has started contracts to fix traffic issues in the FCT, including replacing faulty signals and CCTV systems.

He mentioned that maintenance contracts are ongoing, and they are testing solutions for traffic violators at selected junctions before expanding to more areas.

"We plan to even put the traffic light violator solution. We are doing the test case in some junctions. After the proof of concept, we will now expand the cameras to other places. Yes, in the next couple of months, you will see changes," he said.

Responding to the broken traffic signals, he assured, "We try to fix them and there’s an ongoing effort. The damaged ones, we’ll remove them and replace them. It’s part of the contract."

He added, "There are a couple of ones we are trying to remove, maybe within the week," and confirmed, "We are trying to synchronize them so that in a control room you can always have one minute remaining."

He said they will get feedback from the public, noting there are over 200 intersections with traffic lights.

"We are trying to synchronize them so that in a control room, you can always have one minute remaining. You get the packs and go and fix the ones that are down, the damaged ones. As I said, before the year ends, we depend on procurement, which takes some time."