18th October, 2023
Motorists and commuters plying the Calabar/Ogoja highway have decried the hardships being experienced through the route on a daily basis.
Many of them told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar, that the highway had become a death trap.
They attributed the challenges to the deplorable state of the highway from Odukpani junction to Biase, and Ikom to Ogoja axis of the road.
They noted that the state of the highway had not only increased journey time but also contributed to incessant attacks by armed robbers and kidnappers along the route.
Some of the respondents who are motorists also narrated how the condition of the busy highway had increased their vehicle maintenance cost, thereby causing an increase in transportation fares along the route.
NAN reports that a journey of less than two hours from Odukpani junction to Biase now takes more than three hours.
The situation is worse around the Ikom/Katsina-Ala axis of the highway where stranded articulated vehicles stretch more than 2km on both sides of the road due to its deplorable state.
Commuting on the road is particularly bad whenever it rains in the area.
Mr Abel Achor, a motorist, described the highway as pathetic, saying it was hell to ply the road on a rainy day.
Achor who plies Calabar/Ikom said the axis between Akamkpa and Biase was riddled with gullies at every point of the road, adding that it had become extremely difficult to maneuver.
“Our leaders should make us feel as if we are part of this country. We only require good roads, water and electricity from them and nothing more,” he said.
While corroborating Achor’s position about the highway, another motorist, Obi Bajie, said the situation was made worse by the number of checkpoints manned by the Police and Army on the route.
He said activities of the security agencies were unwholesome and had further added more pain to the sufferings of motorists and commuters on the highway.
According to him, “It is discouraging, especially as we now spend more on fuel, vehicle maintenance and in addition to having to part with a certain amount of money at every checkpoint on the highway.”
To Musa Adamu, the highway can best be described as a death trap that had caused several avoidable accidents.
He noted that articulated vehicles plying the route were at the receiving end as they fell easily in the process of trying to manoeuvre the potholes.
He particularly lamented the area around Ndok junction along Ikom and Katsina-Ala.
“The road is in bad shape, especially whenever it rains. You will see articulated vehicles heading to the Northern part of the country from the South all parked on both sides of the road in a stretch of almost two kilometres leaving only a small portion at the center for smaller vehicular movement,” Adamu said.
According to him “spending days on the route and other inconveniences is what is pushed into the cost of goods and services”.
The Minister of Works, Mr Dave Umahi, was forced to make a U-turn from the road a few days ago on his way to inspect the highway during his visit to Calabar.
(NAN)