Senator Sulaiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila has sympathised with families of the 11 persons who lost their lives in an auto crash on Kano-Maiduguri Highway on Friday.
In a statement he signed, Senator Sumaila expressed grief over the demise of the 11 victims, regretting that Kano-Maiduguri Road had remained a death trap to many road users.
The over 550-kilometre dualisation project was awarded by the federal government at the end of the second tenure of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Sumaila said the importance of the road to Nigerian economy cannot be over-emphasised as the international link Nigeria with Chad Republic, Cameroon, Niger Republic and the Central Africa, thereby boosting businesses among the affected countries.
He also said the road which also connects Kano with Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno States, is playing a greater role in the economic activities of the states.
Senator Sumaila, however, lamented that despite its importance, the road has claimed several lives due to non-completion of the project.
He said for almost 17 years since the award of the project, a portion of the road particularly from Wudil to Gaya has not been completed.
