Hundreds of commuters and articulated vehicles were Friday stranded in Igarra and environs in Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo as the indigenes protested their diversion from the Okpella to Okenne axis of the Benin – Auchi-Lokoja Highway as a result of its dilapidated state and the diversion of traffic to the Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo road which has also become dilapidated because of the pressure on them.
The travelers going to Abuja now divert to Igarra and from there connect Ososo road and then divert to Lampese through Makeke while those coming from Abuja to the South-South and South East go through Lampese to Igarra and then to Auchi. The Igarra to Ibillo part of the road is completely in a mess hence the diversion to communities to exit.
The communities along these routes are complaining that the feeder roads constructed by the state government were not built for the kind of heavy duty vehicles passing through them and destroying them.
Addressing the protesting youths who also frowned at allegations that some persons were allowing the heavy vehicles to pass through the communities after being compromised, a community leader in Igarra, Mr Steve Dania said “We are all witnesses to the hardship we have been going through because of the diversion of vehicles to our township roads which are giving way because they were not built for these kinds of vehicles and we can no longer tolerate this.
The other day, a tanker with petroleum products fell on the road and people were scooping fuel. We know how many years we suffered before Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as governor of the state fixed the Igarra to Ososo road, we know what it took us before the former Chief of Staff to Governor Obaseki, Taiwo Akerele was able to influence the fixing of our feeder roads and now these trucks are destroying them. We will not accept that and we want the federal government to fix the federal roads around us so that these trucks can use them”
A traveler in one of the three luxury buses also caught in the halt, Chinonso Adams said “We have been on the road since Thursday from Abuja and we are going to the east. The roads are bad and now we are held in this diversion. I will not blame the youths because they have to protect what they have. I blame the federal government that has failed to fix our roads.”
PUNCH
