Behold! Nigeria’s Expressway of death, sorrow

.Multiple potholes cause 127 deaths on Benin-Asaba Road in 1 yr

Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Abysmal multiple potholes on Benin-Asaba Expressway have continued to wreak havoc on motorists, especially truck drivers, as no fewer than 127 persons were killed on the road in the last one year.

Investigation revealed that pitiable state of the Benin-Asaba/Ughelli/Ebu/Abuja/Agbor/Abraka federal roads portend sorrows as it records almost every day pathetic death of motorists including their passengers after being bedeviled in attempts to escape the death traps.

While several motorists including Sunday Eboh, who spoke to our reporter, flayed Federal Government’s alleged neglect, they however called for urgent steps to the situation, adding that failure might result in the continued death toll.

But the Delta State Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Random Kulven, confirmed that 253 cases of accidents were recorded in the last one year while 46 cars were razed in the period under review.

Noting that most of the accidents were caused as a result over speeding by drivers, Commander Kulven, who spoke to journalists in Asaba, the Delta State capital, however warned against the use of Tokunbo tyres, saying that the durability of tokunbo tyres were not guaranteed.

Expectedly, 24 hours presence of heavy vehicular movement, particularly heavily loaded trucks, conveying goods to the South-South/South East regions had degenerated the deplorable condition of the roads.

For instance, the Asaba portion of the Benin/Asaba Highway currently portends death trap for motorists including other road users, especially with the presence of multiple failures recorded between Okpanam/Asaba Airport tollgate U-turn portions as it has continued to attract condemnations.

The Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, told journalists that it will be difficult for the state government to take responsibility of the Federal Government considering the current recession sweeping across the globe.

Ukah further explained that the inability of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to effectively handle its statutory works to specification and time had remained the primary challenges staring the state government including motorists/commuters plying the road.

Worse still, the seemingly neglected erosion sand (Local Sharp) piling off at the Okpanam T-junction, at present, has constituted a deadly accident prone spot, but FERMA officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said “Paucity of funds is reason why the potholes on Benin-Asaba Road had not been fixed; we have written several memos to no avail, and we cannot do otherwise”.

Further investigation showed that another bad area prone to motor accidents along the Benin-Asaba road is between Okhae and Ugoneki community in Edo and Asaba Airport, a few meters away from the NNPC currently being destroyed by gully erosion.

The gully erosion sites emerging along the Iyi-abi stream course/valley in Okpanam beside NNPC station, develops wider as it approaches the Benin/Asaba Expressway, collapsing the concrete walls of the drainage system and is threatening to cave into the portion of the dual carriage road of old Ibusa Road, Asaba/Ughelli Road.

Motorists who bared their minds on the current deplorable condition of the roads, decried the pace at which the federal roads are collapsing across the state, adding that the development was a total contradiction to the “Change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration”.

To deepen the road users’ worries, the Federal Government’s body movement it allegedly displays each time the state government wants to repair the failed portions of federal roads within the state, had been worrisome.

One of such alleged frustrations displayed was the attempts made by Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to repair the damaged portions of the Benin-Asaba Expressway around Okwe, near Asaba. The role allegedly played by the construction company assigned to handle the contract award, was not only discouraging but humiliating.

During nightfall, unsuspecting motorists often drive into the potholes, leaving their vehicles to somersault consistently and in most cases either the driver or the passengers are killed on the spot.