Fadeyi residents beg for repairs on pedestrian bridge

Residents of Fadeyi area of Lagos Metropolis have appealed to both the Federal and Lagos State governments to urgently repair the pedestrian bridge acrooss the dual-carriage Ikorodu Road.

NAN reports that the deplorable condition of the bridge at Fadeyi– before BRT Bus stop– is forcing pedestrian to risk sprinting across the road, despite many being knocked down by fast moving vehicles.

NAN reports that about 10 portions of the metal staircase that make up the bridge had become rusty to the extent that an unwary pedestrian can fall through them into the road below.

Mrs Hannah Olateju, a resident of the area, told NAN that it was better to risk crossing the express road on foot that taking the pedestrian bridge.

“Apart from the huge holes that one can fall through, the bridge vibrates and is very slippery whenever it is wet. Many have slipped and injured themseves on the bridge because the metal plates have become like a glass surface”.

Another resident, Mrs Emmanuella Okonkwor, who was interviewed as she prepared to dash across the road with two little children, said it was riskier to use the bridge than cross the road on foot.

“I don’t want my children to fall through these huge holes on the bridge to their death; besides, I am not sure I will not slip and fall myself if we should use the bridge. This is the rainy season, everywhere is wet,” Okonkwor said.

A man, who simply identified himself as Mallam Abdullahi, told NAN that he fell and injured his knee on the bridge the last time he used it.

Abdullahi, who sells mats, had a scar to show from the fall. He said that though he witnessed when an elderly man was killed by a hit-and -run driver at the scene a few days earlier, he had no choice than dash across with a load of mats on his head.

NAN adds that the little good portion of the bridge is often shared between the few pedestrian still using it to cross the road, and traders who turn it into their stalls, especially in the evenings.