Motorists, commuters and businessmen along Bida-Lapai road have expressed dissatisfaction over the worsening traffic congestion arising from the diversion of articulated vehicles and deep potholes caused by heavy rains and flooding. ABU NMODU writes
Bida to Lapai road is located at the centre of the popular Suleja-Lambata-Bida-Mokwa road which is a major link between the north and south west Nigeria.
It is a road often considered the shortest route especially from Abuja to Kwara, Oyo, and Lagos states, but has over the years suffered neglect and is currently a nightmare for motorists plying the road.
Apart from the fear of the men of the underworld who capitalize on the bad state of the road, LEADERSHIP Weekend findings revealed that the road which is the shortest alternative route is almost impassable for motorists especially articulated vehicle drivers who have no option but to use the route.
Besides the increasing gridlock killing productivity and limiting the growth of businesses, it is also causing severe physical and mental stress for them.
LEADERSHIP Weekend findings revealed that the only option would have been Minna to Bida which is not too motorable and at the moment closed for heavy and articulated vehicles because of the ongoing construction work.
Consequently, motorists continue to groan amidst the bad state of the Bida-Lapai road. At the moment the motorists struggle to follow the bushy route along Lambata-Bida-Mokwa road to link to the Minna-Suleja highway.
Findings show that sometimes the road becomes totally blocked and impassable with the traffic diverted. It became worse recently as traffic was diverted from Lokoja to Abuja road following the devastating effect of flood.
It was further revealed that some of the articulated vehicles and other motorists were trapped making them spend days on the road that should take just 30 minutes.
Some drivers told LEADERSHIP Weekend that they have spent over three days on the road as articulated vehicles have blocked and taken over both sides of the road.
It was observed that most parts of the road have failed, even as construction commenced on the road, the only relief is from Lapai to Lambata and the worse is from Bida to Agaie.
An articulated vehicle driver while speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend Ismail Mohammed said he spent three days on the road and ten of the cattle he was transporting to the southwest died in the process.
He said “ the road was bad before, but with the diversion from Lokoja recently, the situation has gone worse, you can see me slaughtering one of my cows, this is the tenth in three days”
Also speaking Malam Garba Nura said that he arrived at a bad spot on the road on Thursday and he has been in the same spot since then, with no help in sight.
“I learnt that the same thing is happening around the Jebba-Mokwa axis. The authorities that diverted the traffic to this road are not fair to us, they should have known that this road is bad, and the diversion is not properly thought out,” he said.
The residents of the major towns and villages along the road also attested to the suffering of the motorist and invariably the danger they are exposed to in terms of linkages to other towns and villages.
A resident of Bida Saidu Abdullahi told LEADERSHIP Weekend that “you can see Bida to Baddeggi road linking Suleja road is blocked by trailers and tankers, no way for small cars and buses, it is as good as we are caged in here.”
He said, “There are times that the major roads within Minna will be blocked because the gridlock will be as long as from Bida here to Agaie because of the bad state of the road.
A resident of Baddeggi, Danjuma Musa said four tankers exploded in Baddeggi recently, saying “we were lucky there was no fatality, it happened when the tankers were forced to park for days near a local tea seller’s makeshift shop and they were gutted by fire in the night.”
Another resident of Baddeggi Umar Mohammed told LEADERSHIP Weekend that “immediately the incident occurred they all ran away to avert casualties, the place is like a trailer park, we are lucky it affected only four articulated vehicles.”
“We immediately called on the firefighters at Bida who quickly swung into action, but by that time four tankers were already burnt to ashes, we thank God no life was lost,” he added.
Also at Lapai, a community leader Nuhu Tanko said: “we can not go to nearby villages because the roads are blocked, we learnt that the traffic from Lokoja is diverted to this road that is already in bad shape”.
On what the authorities are doing to open the blocked road, the spokesman of the State Command of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Raji Egigogo said the command “is trying to ensure that there is a gradual movement of the traffic instead all the vehicles stationed in a place.”
He said though there are parts of the road that are not good but “our men are in Lambata, Lapai, Agaie, and Bida to ensure that no matter how slow the traffic should continue to move.”
Raji said some commuters may be diverted to Bida-Minna road to link Bida or Suleja to ensure the free flow of traffic but stated that the influx of articulated vehicles were the cause of the gridlock.
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