Zakariyya Mamman of the Federal Road Safety Commission said the
crash happened Thursday in the northern state of Bauchi. Mamman said the buses
collided when trying to speed through a work zone on a highway.
Mamman said the buses caught fire after the crash.
Car crashes are common on Nigeria's
poorly maintained roads. Drivers often travel at high speed and overtake slower
vehicles, leading to such head-on collisions and high death rates.
Even main cities are linked by pitted, two-lane roads crammed
with passenger buses, trucks laden with goods and rickety private vehicles.
The World Health Organisation has said Nigeria
is the third worst country for traffic fatalities behind China
and India.