The rehabilitation of trunk A road linking Abuja – Lapai-Bida in Niger state which is being handled by the Nigeria National petroleum corporation,(NNPC) for over three years has become a death trap for motorist plying the road.
National trail gathered that the road has been in a deplorable condition for over ten years with out sign of relief on the rehabilitation from the NNPC thereby causing havoc to motorist mostly affected are the articulated vehicles.
The report added that, it is now a daily routine that articulated vehicles heavily loaded were involved in an accident which as a result goods are destroyed while some trucks are trapped.
According to the report criminals also cash on the bad nature of the road and carry out their neferious activities attacks motorist and carted away their belongings which includes cash and goods.
The worst spot of the road is between the army barracks at Baddegi and the National cereal research institute where vehicles usually divert to opposite side which often cause gridlock of articulated vehicles,the ugly situation also affected work at the NCRI Badeggi as some staff resident at Bida find it difficult to go to work for fear of being endangered.
National trail visited the worst part of the road and sited a sign board mounted along the road with the logo of NNPC, Federal inland revenue service and that of Federal ministry of works, which indicates “the reconstruction of Lambata,-Bida road is a project among the critical roads funded by NNPC limited under the federal government road infrastructure tax credit scheme expected to terminate at Esso Bida.”
The Lambata -Bida road is the only option for the articulated vehicles coming from Abuja to south East as the alternative road from MINNA to Bida which also lead to south Eastern part of the country have been closed to prevent articulated vehicles from plying the road which is also in a state of disrepair.
Speaking in an interview some of the truck drivers,Adewale Isaac lamented on the deplorable condition of the road for the past 10 years without concern by the government asked the government to take urgent measures to complete the rehabilitation of the road,while Mallam Shehu Sanusi said he have spent two days on the road due to traffic jam from Agaie asking the government to sympathise and fix the road,also Animaseun Yakub spent eight hours without food.
Our Reporter gathered that Niger state is one of the state that is worst hit of bad roads, as Nigerlites expected the immediate past President Mohammadu Buhari during his eight years in office to complete the dual carriage road initiated by the former president Good Luck Ebele Jonathan which stopped at Lambata since 2015.
