On Thursday, commuters using the Onitsha-Owerri Road in
Anambra had to contend with traffic jams, poor road conditions, and extortion
to get to their respective destinations.
The early morning rainfall made things worse for those
who utilize the roads since it made driving and moving around nearly difficult.
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Our correspondent said that the area along the River
Niger Bridge Head, from the Metallurgical sector through to the Amanator axis
and to Upper-Iweka, has turned into a write-off and a significant
obstacle for drivers.
At the Amanator axis, debris, potholes, and flooding
have blocked the whole road, forcing all vehicles headed toward Upper Iweka to
merge with traffic directed toward Owerri to reach their objective.
As a result of this event, both cars traveling in the
direction of Upper Iweka and those traveling in the direction of Owerri came to
a stop and blocked the road.
To make matters worse for drivers, there were no traffic
cops in the vicinity, and some touts were observed "managing" traffic
while extorting drivers.
Due to the congestion, people were spotted making their
way to various locations by walking on the trash along the road.
Motorists also had a difficult time at the Enamel axis
because of military roadblocks.
A federal route that connects commuters from the River
Niger Bridge to other areas of Anambra and South-East states, including some
areas in the south-south, is the bustling Onitsha-Owerri Road.
Bus driver Chima said that riders had been dealing with
the awful condition for years and that all requests for a palliative remedy had
been ignored.
Nze Chukwuemeka Olekpe, the Chairman of the Anambra
State Chapter of the Great Tippers Association of Nigeria, also spoke and
bemoaned the nearly daily occurrence of truck accidents.
Olekpe emphasized that more than 12 people, including association members, had lately died and several others were hurt as a result of randomly falling vehicles on the road.
This route has turned into a nightmare for us, Olekpe
stated. Every day, our cars crash on this route. Over six people have just died
as a result of stricken tankers, as I talk to you.
"Since there is no coordination at that part, two
of our vehicles toppled in the Aba Park only last week. Our efforts to the
government to at least provide palliative remedies on this route have gone
unanswered.
It is very sad what we are traveling through on that
road right now. Trucks crash on this road every day, and anyone who was unlucky
enough to be there at the time takes the brunt of it.
"With the rains recently, this road has turned into
a death trap and is no longer motorable from the Upper Iweka axis to the
Metallurgical portion. Additionally, criminal activity has increased. We request that anyone who cares check into our situation since traveling on that route has become a nightmare for us.
Unnamed staff from the Federal Road Maintenance Agency
in Anambra State claimed that previous attempts by the organization to provide
temporary solutions for the road had always been thwarted by local hoodlums.
"Two trucks of gravel were dumped at the Upper
Iweka junction just before the rainy season started to be utilized in patching
the potholes, but those touts did not allow the operation to be successfully
carried out," she continued.
Calls to the state's commissioner for transportation,
Patricia Igwebuike, were unanswered, making attempts to talk with her
fruitless.
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