Date: 2017-06-30

Motorists plying Jebba/Mokwa road have expressed agonising experiences being suffered since the bridge linking parts of South West and the North collapsed few weeks ago at Tatabu in Niger State.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Ilorin recently an official of the NURTW, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed, described the experience as terribly depressing.

"It's been a harrowing experience since the bridge linking south to north collapsed. Our colleagues that took an alternative route of Ilorin- Omu-Aran- Kabba road said it was herculean task manoeuvering the road with a high number of heavy vehicles now plying the road.

"The journey that takes about eight or nine hours now takes eternity because you can't determine the duration of time the journey could take. Crossing the bridge takes about five minutes at normal time, but we spend about three hours taking alternative route just to cross the bridge. Some of the youth in the area have also put logs of wood on the river to allow vehicles pass through, collecting N1,000 on each vehicle.

"We also go through Lafiagi, where ferry takes our vehicles across the River Niger there. We pay an average of N1000 to get a vehicle across for this. At another route in Niger State, there are bad portions all over the place and criminals abound on the road capitalising on the state of the road to carry out their nefarious acts.

"We can't increase transport fare. Passengers were not patronising as such before now. So, they would just go away should we increase the fare. Sometimes, when they come and they ask for the route we are taking, and we tell them it is alternative route that would take longer hours, you see them taking their bags and leaving the park. So, we have not increased fare," Mohammed said.

Also speaking, a resident of Minna, Niger State who traverses Kwara State, Alhaji Soliu Abubakar, said that plying the road from either side of Niger or Kwara states had been horrible.

"Now, we go through Ekiti and Kogi states to get to Abuja and places in Niger State. There's heavy traffic, excessive fuel consumption, including bad roads are the features of the issue at hand now. There are heavy presence of trailers and other long vehicles which now ply hitherto abandoned road, which is like a bush path.

"Vehicles now take such route as Omu Aran, Ekiti, Kabba, Lokoja, Kitonkarfi, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Zuba and Suleija. And another route is Abaji, Lapai and Minna. Many people do not know that the Tatabu bridge collapse also washed away railway line.

"The option being employed by motorists now is the use of ferry ports at Pategi and Lafiagi run by the Niger State Transport Corporation to get their vehicles across the River Niger. Coming from Minna, going through Pategi, you pass through Bida, Doko to the ferry port in 45 minutes. Going through Lafiagi, from Minna, one goes through Enagi, in Edeti council of Niger State to Lafiagi in Kwara State of about 27 kilometres for 45 minutes in muddy road.

"The ferry takes between four and eight vehicles. Before the collapse of the bridge, it was N1,500, but with increase in number of vehicles it is now N2,500 to get a vehicle across the river.

"Motorists wait for almost three hours to complete load of vehicles on the sea. There's fresh fish, dry fish, at reasonable prices. Tourism in the area has improved. People take pictures, shoot videos.

"The problem here is that should your vehicle get mechanical fault on the road, there is no help in sight. Interestingly, it is the passengers that contribute to pay to ferry vehicle they board. It is N200 for Okada and an agreed amount of money for cattle."

Meanwhile, anxiety is mounting among residents of Kaiama communities in the Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State following the increase in number of haulage vehicles plying the route.

Following the collapse of the Niger bridge at Tatabu village in Niger State weeks ago, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of heavy duty vehicles on the Kaiama route.

Several big trucks crossing the bridge to Jebba in Kwara State have opted for bush paths by taking Kaiama route.

Some stakeholders in Kaiama who spoke with Nigerian Tribune, deplored the development whereby haulage vehicles ply the road, warning that plying the route could damage a major bridge connecting Kaiama to Kishi.

The chairman, Transition Implementation Committee, Kaiama Local Government Area, Usman Ahmed Gunu, said that the condition of Kaiama/Kishi road had deteriorated while the presence of heavy trucks could worsen the situation.

He said that the condition of the road had affected revenue profile of the council, adding that his office had written the state government on the undesirable development.

"The situation of the road has affected revenue profile of the council. Those people who come here to buy food stuff have stopped. The little earnings we are having from revenue therein has decreased tremendously". he said.

On the heavy duty vehicles plying Kaiama, Gunu said that,"it is going to create a lot of problems and in fact, it is creating problems already. We are raising the alarm. We have even written to the state government officially to alert them on what’s happening

"Its going to hammer us very seriously because plying this road will affect the long Moshe bridge. The bridge broke down sometime ago, it was the Senate President that fixed it for us when he was the governor. About N90 million was spent on the project, and we have been managing the bridge. That is the sole bridge we have around here.

"When we talked, they said, it is federal road and we cannot stop anybody from plying it. But if it breaks down, it is the community that will be affected heavily. This is the only road that links parts of the North with the South." Also speaking, the village head of Gweria, Yakubu Bawa, said that the community would have prevented the vehicles from plying the route if it had such power.

He said that the fear of the community was fuelled by imminent collapse of Moshe Gada bridge.

"If we had our way, we wouldn't have allowed this heavy duty trucks that have started plying this route because of the collapsed bridge between Jebba/Mokwa. If the bridge at Moshe caves in, there will be another problem. Sincerely, our fear has heightened," he said.