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Commuting within the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Anambra State has continued to become a difficult task on a daily basis, following the bad shape of the road, especially at the popular Upper Iweka axis, near the River Niger Bridge.
It was a harvest of falls for trucks as about three trucks fell and one broke down on the road on Sunday.
A truck carrying scraps fell on one side at Upper Iweka and emptied its contents on the road on Friday as it was heading out of Onitsha.
This is just as another truck carrying beverage drinks coming from the River Niger head bridge also fell at the same spot on the other lane heading towards Owerri.
The truck fell on an already broken down truck while navigating through the bad portions of the road.
Both incidents, it was gathered, happened on Friday, while the broken down truck was said to have happened last week.
Also by the Lord Chosen Charismatic Church, near Enamel Bus Stop, on the same road, another 40ft container fell and blocked that axis.
It was gathered that it happened late on Saturday.
The resultant traffic gridlock occasioned by the incidents caused commuters to trek long distance to their various destinations on Sunday.
To make matters worse, especially at the Amanator axis, where refuse dumps and flooding have covered the surface, people were seen walking on the refuse as the walkways on that axis were taken over by those who used it to display the cars they are selling.
Some of the motorists, who spoke with journalists, appealed to the Federal Government and the Anambra State Government to find a lasting solution to this problem as a matter of urgent public importance.
Some commercial drivers blamed the Federal Road Maintenance Agency for not doing its statutory job of maintaining and rehabilitating the road on a regular basis as they alleged that palliative measures were last carried out on the road over eight years ago, while the road has been calling for serious attention of the agency for the past eight years.
A motorist, Mr Uzor Tobechukwu, blamed both the federal and state governments as well as the state and federal lawmakers from the state for allegedly showing insensitivity to the plight of the people in that regard, saying the roads were abandoned because influential people don’t ply the roads often.
He said, “This road is a critical road that connects the South-East states and some parts of the south-south, how they have allowed it to deteriorate to this level showed irresponsibility on their part.
“The state government does not care about this as they have left it for the Federal Government. We don’t have government in Nigeria, see the condition of this road and see how trucks are fallen on a daily basis, thereby endangering the lives of innocent people.
“How much is it going to cost them to help us fix this road? The Onitsha-Owerri road, especially from the Upper Iweka axis has become a death trap and is not good and the only road we used to pass now has been damaged by all big trucks and nothing has been done on it.”
Another road user, identified as Rita Samuel, said, “We are appealing now to both Anambra and federal governments to come to our aid in order to fix these road. We don’t ask for money from them but they should come and fix these bad road for benefits of all of us.”
As of the time of filing this report on Sunday, all four trucks were still lying on their various portions on the road thereby inhibiting free flow of traffic.
Although, there was a transloading of the one carrying beverage into another waiting truck in front.
All efforts to speak to the state Commissioner for Transport, Patricia Igwebuike, proved abortive as she did not respond to calls and messages put across to her phone.
