Kwara Community Decries Poor State Of Omu-Aran-Iloffa-Eruku-Kabba Road

The people of Iloffa community in the Oke-Ero local government area of Kwara State have cried out over the deplorable condition of the Omu-Aran-Iloffa-Eruku–Egbe–Kabba federal road.

The community’s stakeholders described the road as a “death trap” that has crippled economic and social activities in the area.

The Alofa of Iloffa, Oba Samuel Niyi Dada, said the collapsed road has adversely affected the residents’ standard of living and caused significant economic losses.

He lamented that some sections of the road are in disrepair, characterised by deep potholes, gullies, and muddy patches where vehicles get bogged down, and travellers are trapped for hours.

He said motorists plying the route now face untold hardship daily, with cases of burst tyres, broken axles, and other vehicle damage becoming commonplace.

The monarch said the road is not only hindering vehicular movement, with transporters and passengers lamenting daily losses, but has also become almost impassable for pedestrians.

He said the ugly development has further put additional pressure on township roads as vehicles are now forced to divert from the federal road into Iloffa township roads.

He added that the deplorable condition of the road has forced many commercial transporters to abandon the route, while those still plying it have resorted to charging exorbitant fares, thereby inflicting more hardship on passengers, especially farmers desperate to move their agricultural produce to markets.

The monarch noted that Iloffa, a major agrarian community, is the worst hit, as farm produce now rots on farms due to the inability to transport it on time.

He added that the badly damaged portions, worsened by the rains, have forced drivers to take detours through lonely forest paths, where they are exposed to kidnapping and bandit attacks.

He said the 143-kilometre stretch of road from Ilorin to Egbe through Omu-Aran, Iloffa and Eruku, which used to take a maximum of two hours, now takes seven to eight hours, and sometimes a whole day.

The monarch appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to come to the community’s aid.