Motorists seek palliative measure on failed Enugu-Onitsha highway 

Motorists and commuters plying the 105-kilometre Enugu-Onitsha highway have called for palliative measure on the road pending its reconstruction to reduce their sufferings.

The motorists made the call in separate interviews on Wednesday, saying it now takes between two and three hours to travel either way between Enugu and Onitsha.

One of the respondents, David Okigbo, said the call had become urgent as the alternative route through the old road in Oji River had become a death trap as heavy duty vehicles had made it impassable.

Okigbo said that the gridlock at the Ugwuoba axis of the old road was choking while the road was almost caving in due to heavy traffic.

A passenger, Pamela Igwe, said that the road was impassable, especially with the heavy rains being experienced this year.

Igwe appealed to the governors of Anambra and Enugu to urgently provide palliatives by rehabilitating the bad portions before the end of the rainy season.

“The two states of Enugu and Anambra should intervene in rehabilitating failed portions of the road in Ugwuoba and Umunya without waiting for the Federal Government as it is their people that suffer the pain,’’ she said.

On his part, Uche Eke, a businessman, described the difficulties encountered while plying the route as ` horrific and unspeakable’ as people waited for hours to pass through the less than five-kilometre failed portion to their destination.

Eke said that because of the development, intercity transport fares increased by almost 50 per cent while villagers who pretended to be working on the road made brisk businesses as they collected fees from motorists whose vehicles were trapped.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) penultimate week declared the Enugu-Onitsha highway closed and urged motorists to use alternative routes.

The expressway was built during Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime as military head of state and was rehabilitated during late Sani Abacha’s regime with funds from the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

The rehabilitation through the PTF was supervised by President Muhammadu Buhari who was the chairman of the fund at that time. (NAN)

GODFREY OFURUM with agency report