Abia residents call on FGto start work on Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway

Abia State residents on Thursday called on the Federal Government to quickly deploy to site the contractor awarded the rehabilitation of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Some of the residents of the state made the plea in Aba and Umuahia in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria.
They explained that this was to reduce the carnage on the road especially on the Aba – Umuahia stretch.
The residents said that unless the reconstruction was done before Christmas more lives could be lost through accidents on the dual-carriage way which had been reduced to one lane because of failed portions.
Chima Onuoha, a trader in Aba, said: “My mind is never at rest when I am travelling through the Enugu-Port Harcourt Express way.
“This is because it is now full of potholes and often accidents happen on the Aba-Umuahia stretch as a result of potholes.
“Since January the road has been in deplorable condition.”
He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had in his October. 1 speech said that the road had been awarded to a contractor but added: “We have not seen any company working on it.”
Onuoha called for immediate deployment of the contractor adding that if nothing was done urgently the coming months would be hectic and dangerous for commuters preparing for the yuletide.
A businessman, Mike Emeka, also said that plying on the wrong lane by motorists struggling to save their time had turned the road into a nightmare for users.
Emeka said: “The government should start work on the road before Christmas to save lives and the time which is usually wasted in long traffic queues.
“If the president said that the road has been awarded to a contractor he should send monitoring team to know if work is going on or not.
“He should be aware that we are yet to see any company working on the road.”
Another resident, Ikechukwu Akabogu, said he travelled from Aba to Umuahia three times a week but always felt unease because of the rate of accidents on the road.
Akabogu said: “One day I was returning to Aba when we witnessed an accident where a Tipper crushed a commercial bus and killed all the passengers because both vehicles were struggling on one lane.’’
Akabogu expressed regret that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency saddled with the responsibility of patching failed portions of roads in in the country had not done much in the past four years.