The major road linking some parts of the North-East states of Adamawa and Taraba on Thursday was completely cut off by heavy flood leaving passengers stranded.
Our correspondent reports that the bridge which connected the Lafiya Lamorde, a border town with Gombe State was built with heavy metal (culvert) channelled water from one side to the other.
The heavy water completely washed away what was remaining at the construction site making it impossible for cars to cross over from both sides.
A passenger Adamu Dangombe, on Friday appealed to the Federal Government to urgently tackle the road, “Some took the risk of crossing the washed away part of the road after waiting for hours when the water pressure reduced while some others ended their journey by returning. The Federal Government should urgently prioritise the completion of the road. Yearly Federal Road Maintenance Agency waste resources that would have been used to curb such occurrence,” he added.
A driver who identified him as Muritala Hassan, told our correspondent that the washed out section of the road is already causing serious social and economic setbacks to the people especially as harvesting season is around the corner.
“Taraba and Adamawa states are some of Nigeria’s known cattle rearers and farmers producing many major food crops transported to different parts of the country and beyond. Federal Government should urgently fix the road to reduce Nigeria’s rising food crisis,” Hassan added.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has conducted on-the-spot assessment.
Conveying its intervention through X (formerly twitter) on Friday NEMA agreed that the washed portion is causing significant disruption to transportation across the region.
“The incident, which occurred in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State, has left commuters and goods stranded, severely affecting trade and travel between the two states. The collapse is believed to have resulted from structural weaknesses exacerbated by heavy seasonal rains.
“A rapid assessment was immediately initiated by Director General NEMA Mrs Zubaida Umar, to evaluate the extent of the damage and recommend necessary mitigation steps. The assessment team was led by Mr. Musa Yakubu from NEMA Yola operations office in collaboration with the Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) of Lamurde LGA.
“Initial reports from the assessment indicate that the collapse has severely affected critical infrastructure, creating a major transportation bottleneck and causing significant delays for emergency services. Local residents are advised to avoid the area until further notice, as the site poses serious safety risks,” NEMA wrote.
