Again, Bida-Minna road collapses

Users plying the ever busy Bida-Minna highway now turn to bush paths as an alternative route as the road collapsed for a second time this year.

Ripples Nigeria learnt that this is coming following heavy rainfall in the area in the last few weeks.

The road is the major Highway linking motorists travelling from the Southern part of the country to the North especially from Lagos-Kwara-Niger-Abuja.

The commuters coming from the southern part of the country are now forced to follow bush paths as alternative routes to Bida after linking Mange Vunla to Lemu the headquarters of Gbako Local Government Area, LGA.

Some of the commercial bus drivers plying the road, who spoke with our reporter lamented the hardship they were facing over the bad road and called on the state government to intervene immediately.

As of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach Mamma Lafiya, the state commissioner for Works and Infrastructural Development, were futile as calls and messages were not responded to.

Read also: Customs seize N32.9m worth of smuggled rice in Niger

Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) told motorists to exercise restraint at Sabon-Gida in Gbako Local Government following the collapse of the bridge.

Mr Habibu Egigogo, the Spokesman of the safety agency in Niger State, warned: “There is a collapsed bridge at Sabon-Gida on the Bida-Minna Road; motorists are advised to take caution when approaching. Alternative road has been created for small vehicles, while men of the FRSC Bida are at the scene controlling traffic.”

Egigogo explained that the bridge collapsed on Sunday as a result of pressure on it by heavy duty trucks moving in large numbers.

“The government banned articulated vehicles from following the road, but at night they always find their way to the same road,” he added.

The present administration had awarded the construction of the less than 100 kilometer road to Dantata and Sawoe in 2018 at over N20 billion with the ground breaking ceremony taking place in 2019.

Since the take off of the project, only about six kilometres of the road out of the 89 killometre have been graded with only about four kilometres asphalt laid.

By Mohammed Taoheed…

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