Lokoja-Abuja road now open for motorists

The Lokoja-Abuja road was re-opened to traffic at about 3.15 p.m. on Friday, six days after it was closed.

Mr Mohammed Garba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, confirmed the re-opening of the road in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja.

The re-opening of the road was facilitated by the creation of diversions at the Ukomi and Banda sections of the road by Julius-Berger Plc, RCC, Dantata and Sawoe and Gitto. Light vehicles were the first to be allowed to drive through.

The road was initially re-opened to traffic late on Thursday evening, but was blocked again on Friday morning after some articulated vehicles got stuck at the Banda end of the diversion.

The re-opening of the road was a relief to motorists, especially drivers of articulated vehicles who had been trapped in the flooded road for up to 10 days.

One of the engineers who monitored work on the diversion, Mr Andrew Enaphe, said the soil at the spot where articulated vehicles got stuck became muddy after heavy downpour on Thursday night.

Enaphe, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Works, Abuja, who confirmed that the road was actually re-opened to traffic on Thursday evening, said that it had to be blocked again to allow for “mechanical stabilisation’’ of the bad spot.

He said the diversion at Banda, which is about five kilometers long, had been covered with hard core stones and quarry dust.

Enaphe said the diversions were done in such a way that they would not easily cave in from the weight of vehicles.

NAN reports that the diversion at Banda, which is about 15 metres away from the flooded part of the main road, is provided with drainage.

The diversion was ordered by the Federal Government on September 24 less than 24 hours after the FRSC announced the closure of the road to traffic.