Following the collapse of two bridges in the state on Wednesday, Niger State Governor Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello has once again threatened to block large trucks, tankers, and other articulated vehicles from using the Minna-Bida highway and state-owned highways. Among those impacted are the Zungeru bridge on the Bida-Wushishi-Zungeru road and the Kateregi bridge on the Minna-Bida route. After the federal government’s two-week deadline to perform emergency work on the Bida-Agaie-Lapai-Lambata road expired, this threat is occurring for the second time in three weeks. Over 2,000 commuters are reportedly stuck in severe traffic along the two roads as a result of the two bridges collapsing on Wednesday.
As you may remember, Bello banned all state-owned roads to trailers, trucks, and other articulated vehicles two weeks ago because of their poor status. This was done to allow contractors working on the Minna-Bida route to expedite the project. Two days later, however, the governor agreed to reopen them in response to a request from the federal government to permit a continuous flow of petroleum products to the north, along with a commitment to make emergency repairs to the Bida-Agaie-Lapai-Lambata road in order to provide an other route.
The governor stated that the state administration will be forced to block heavy trucks from using the Minna-Bida road after examining the intervention efforts made to improve the condition of travelers on the Minna-Suleja road. “We will close the roads at any moment so that the contractor can resume work,” he stated. Until the Minna-Bida road is fixed, there won’t be a way to turn back this time. Nothing has been done in the last two weeks, and nothing has changed. You can see that we are running out of patience and that things are growing worse every day.
