Motorists, Residents Groan On Oturkpo-Obollo-Afor Road
Motorists plying Oturkpo-Obollo-Afor road bordering Benue and Enugu states have called on the federal and concerned state governments to provide palliatives on some dilapidated portions of the road to reduce their sufferings.
Our correspondent reports that the bad portions of the road, measuring over ten kilometres, have become a nightmare to the users.
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Some of the road users that spoke with THE WHISTLER on Thursday recounted their losses as a result of the dilapidated road. According to them, the state of the road has damaged their vehicles and goods, caused air pollution, destroyed their businesses and caused vehicular accidents.
Onyinye Eze has a restaurant along the road. She said, “My shop is in front of my house. So I don’t pay house rents. But the road has become bad. The worst is that the dust generated from the road pollutes the air to the detriment of my customers. Many customers don’t enjoy patronising my shop again because of dust.
“I want the federal government to act fast because we are dying. This place is turning into what Opi-Ogbede-9th road has become. We are afraid because by the rainy season, this road will collapse.”
A driver, Onyeke Ikpogu, told our correspondent that, “You can see that motor mechanic shops and their allied partners are springing up daily on this road. It is because vehicles break down on a daily basis. The shaft of my bus pulled yesterday, and we are still waiting for the repair. I’m travelling to Port-Harcourt with goods. Some of them are perishable.”
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Another driver, Silas, said, “I follow this road to go to Abuja. The nature of this road has increased the distance from Enugu to Abuja by over six hours. At times, these trailers pack up on the road, blocking everywhere in the process. We resorted to this route because the better one passing through Igboeze North to Kogi has become prone to kidnapping.
” Most of our passengers insist we follow this bad road because of their safety. Otherwise, this route is not passable. It reminds me of the 9th Mile section of this same road that has been abandoned for many years.”
A community leader at Amalla Community in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, Chief Matthew Itodo said, “This is a federal road. There is no political will to fix this road. It passes through a part of Benue that Chief David Mark, former Senate President, represented in the Senate for twenty years. We have always heard that contracts have been awarded for its repair, but nothing tangible has happened. Governments of Benue and Enugu states have shown no concerns towards salvaging the situation.”
Our correspondent gathered that the road has, however, been awarded for repairs spanning from Makurdi in Benue State to 9th Mile in Enugu State. It was further gathered that work has commenced from the Makurdi end of the road.
