Guardian

Lawyers protest condition of Aba roads

GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has urged the Federal Government to expedite work on the Benin-Ore road to ameliorate the plight of motorists on the route. He also urged the contractors to work at night to ensure free flow of traffic in the day.

The governor who spoke while helping to direct traffic on the road to ease the gridlock said many hours were unnecessarily wasted on the road.

He urged the Federal Road Maintenance Agency doing remedial work on the road and other contractors to work at night so that the road could be free in the day for motorists.

“When you are doing a job on a federal highway, you must do it fast, preferably do it at night to avoid unnecessary traffic and even accidents.”

The governor, who was on his way to Evbonogbon in Ovia South West Local Council Area was stuck in the gridlock and helped to clear the traffic for over an hour before proceeding on his journey.

Some of the motorists said they had been stuck in the traffic for hours due to a bad portion of the road.

Meanwhile, irked by the poor conditions of federal and state roads in the south east zone especially the Abia area of the Port Harcourt-Enugu expressway, Aba lawyers under the aegis of the Nigeria Bar Association have called for immediate action to be taken to repair them.

At a rally where they dressed in black attire and rain boots, they chanted songs reflecting their anger with placards condemning the state of the roads.

The Chairman of the Aba branch of the NBA Chief Charles Eduzor decried the condition of the roads, saying they had caused irreparable harm to human lives and valuables worth billions of naira even as it had retarded businesses.

He wondered why President Goodluck Jonathan that got majority votes from the south east zone had seemingly neglected the roads.

“This is a deliberate policy to strangulate Aba which used to be the business hub of South East. We now have to wear rain boots to cross the highways.

“People who bring in goods into Aba have to stop at Umuikaa junction to off-load and by so doing increase the cost of goods that come into Aba.”

The Aba lawyers urged the Abia State government to act on the poor roads in the commercial city.

The state Governor, Dr Theodore Orji, at a meeting with Aba landlords on Monday also complained about the bad roads and assured that repairs would begin as soon.

He said the state road maintenance agency had been directed to effect some immediate repairs.