By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
The Coalition of Niger State Civil Society Groups has given ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria to repair all dilapidated federal roads in Niger State or face actions.
This coming barely a week after a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Niger State former Information Commissioner, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, lambasted President Muhhamadu Buhari for ‘shortchanging’ the state after massively voting for him.
Addressing journalists on the bad roads at the IBB Pen House, Minna, the group said, “Bida-Minna is a no-go area, Suleja-Minna road is something else, Makera road is far long gone and that is why you see tanker, trailers and other articulated vehicles clustering Bida road”.
Spokesperson for the group, Mohammed Mohammed, however pointed out that the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, out of concern for Nigerlites had embarked on repairs of the Suleja-Minna road from meager income accruable to the state.
Besides, Mohammed threatened to mobilize forces against the federal government if nothing was done and urgently too.
He said that the press conference was to state clearly that the Makera road which belonged to the federal has collapsed and that is the reason for the massive unusual traffic currently being witnessed on Minna-Bida road, the only alternative for the heavy duty trucks moving to North from South.
Of late, many have lost their lives along federal roads and entry points into Niger State, Mohammed said, adding, “Almost on a daily basis people die along the Mokwa-Makera road and Suleja-Minna road and we can no longer keep quiet while citizens die daily”.
Niger state, he said has 10 percent of entire Nigeria’s landmass but unfortunately all the link roads are death traps including Suleja to Minna, Lapai-Lambata, Bida-Lemu-Zungeru-Teggina road, Gidigori-Kagara-Mokwa road, Makera-Kontagora-Rijau and Agaie-Baro”.
The group lamented that “Three people died last weekend in Dikko when a petrol tanker trying to maneuver through the bad road exploded while about 17 people died along Makera. As it is now, we cannot tell who will be the next to die through accident if the roads are not repaired”.
