The deplorable condition of the Owerri/ Port Harcourt expressway
has become a source of great concern to motorists plying the road,
especially from the Imo State end, starting from Umuagwo to the Umupapu,
a stretch of over six kilometers. And with the rainy season not yet
over, the road has become more nightmarish, forcing motorists to take
the Owerri/Aba expressway, which is a longer route to Port Harcourt.For
the Imo State government, the abandonment of the section of the road
that connects Imo and Rivers State was more of politics as the state has
wondered why a contractor handling such a major interstate road would
decide to stop work abruptly if not at the instance of the Federal
government.
Governor Okorocha raising the alarm over the deplorable state of the road lamented that it was nothing but a glaring death trap.
“The road has become a glaring death trap with some Imo indigenes and some other people losing their lives either through accidents or armed robbery attacks that occur on that part of the road almost on daily basis.
“With every sense of responsibility the Federal Government is called upon to fix the road without further delay to save Imo people and other road users from further deaths. It is worrisome where the contractor handling a major project like the Port Harcourt/Owerri expressway could get to the point where the road connects Imo State and stopped, and since then, nobody has seen the need for that part of the road to be done so that the people of the state and other users can enjoy it because all Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliations use the road.
“But it is avowedly regrettable that the contractor doing the road could get to Imo State side of the project and stopped work for quite a long time now,” the governor lamented.
Okorocha equally declared that the representatives of the state at the National Assembly, as well as all political appointees from the state at the federal level are a disappointment since they could not leverage on their positions to impress it on the president on the importance of completing the road in order to save the lives of road users.
“There are Imo sons and daughters in Abuja who claim to be very close to the presidency or to the Federal Government and even those who claim to be power brokers at the National Assembly, and they could not influence anything with regard to the disturbing condition of the road under reference. And they pass through the road very often and none of them could muster the courage to talk about it to the president so that construction work could be resumed,” he regretted.
The governor pointed out that it was the same case with the Aba/Owerri road until the state government decided to fix it, adding that it was then the Federal Government hurriedly awarded the contract for the dualisation of the road to the same firm working for the state.
“It is important to remind Imo sons and daughters who drop the name of Mr President on every slightest issue to bring that connection to bear by influencing things to ensure that the Umuapu side of Port Harcourt/Owerri road is fixed without further delay to halt further deaths and armed robbery attacks on that side of the road,” Okorocha said.
But the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof Viola Onwuliri, dismissed the claims of the state government that all Federal Government projects in the state have been abandoned.
She disclosed that the Federal Government has just released the sum of N1.2 billion to the contractors to complete the road project after the rains.
The minister lambasted the state government for raising false alarm, wondering that the state government that is complaining about the Owerri/ Port Harcourt road is the same government that has been building roundabouts all over the state without a master plan.
“So, people should first remove the speck in their own eyes first to see clearly before criticizing others. It is a Federal Government road, the first part has been done and this one will also be done, we in the PDP-controlled Federal Government believe in due process, we don’t just wake up because you want to give contract to your company and you start to build roads.
“There are issues with the contractor which needed to be sorted out first and at some point the Federal Government wanted to lay off the contractor, but we had to go through the drawings again with the Ministry of the Niger Delta and the president has mandated the ministry to ensure that the project is completed as scheduled.
“Even the Ministry of Works has done some remedial work on that road pending when work will re-commence after the rains and I’m sure that the Imo State government is aware of that,” she said.
When Oriental News visited the Owerri/Port Harcourt expressway, construction equipment belonging to Arab Contractors, the firm handling the road project, are still lying idle as there were no workers on site.
However, motorists and commuters plying the road have continued to lament the terrible condition of the road, as well as falling victims to robbery attacks as robbers take advantage of the deplorable condition of the road to hit their targets.
A driver, Mr John Umunna, told Oriental News that the road was not safe any longer for motorists, especially at nights as armed robbers have taken advantage of the poor state of the road to attack them.
He disclosed that most people now avoid the Owerri/ Port Harcourt expressway like a plague.
“I have been attacked twice at Umuapu by armed robbers at night because that particular portion of the road has collapsed and ever since that time I cannot drive on this road when it is past 6:00 p.m. As a result most of those going to Port Harcourt now prefer to ply the Owerri/Aba road to avoid been trapped on the road, especially in this rainy season or falling victims to robbery attacks which have become the order of the day.
“We now spend more money on maintaining our vehicles which is an added cost, so it is important for the government to urgently repair that portion because that is our own dividend of democracy and if the road is smooth there would be no robbery attack on passengers and drivers using the road,” he said.
Similarly, John Bibor, a driver with a Port Harcourt-based transport company told Oriental News that the Imo State section of the Owerri/Port Harcourt highway was the worst as drivers and commuters are always afraid whenever they get to that portion, especially at nights as it has become the favourite spot for armed robbers, who usually attack passengers and drivers.
Although he said that he has been lucky not to have suffered any robbery attack at the spot, whenever it is after 7:00 o’clock at night he stops using the road.
His words: “I thanked God that my vehicle has not been attacked by armed robbers but some of my colleagues have not been so lucky becuase whenever it is past 7:00p.m I would rather take the Owerri/Aba expressway and then connect Port Harcourt from there instead to risk my life or that of the passengers. Although, the Owerri/ Port Harcourt expressway is the shortest route if you are going to Rivers State from Onitsha or Owerri but because of the bad condition of the road most drivers will rather take Aba road and then connect Port Harcourt. We are appealing to the state and Federal Government to help us repair the road.”
“The road has become a glaring death trap with some Imo indigenes and some other people losing their lives either through accidents or armed robbery attacks that occur on that part of the road almost on daily basis.
“With every sense of responsibility the Federal Government is called upon to fix the road without further delay to save Imo people and other road users from further deaths. It is worrisome where the contractor handling a major project like the Port Harcourt/Owerri expressway could get to the point where the road connects Imo State and stopped, and since then, nobody has seen the need for that part of the road to be done so that the people of the state and other users can enjoy it because all Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliations use the road.
“But it is avowedly regrettable that the contractor doing the road could get to Imo State side of the project and stopped work for quite a long time now,” the governor lamented.
Okorocha equally declared that the representatives of the state at the National Assembly, as well as all political appointees from the state at the federal level are a disappointment since they could not leverage on their positions to impress it on the president on the importance of completing the road in order to save the lives of road users.
“There are Imo sons and daughters in Abuja who claim to be very close to the presidency or to the Federal Government and even those who claim to be power brokers at the National Assembly, and they could not influence anything with regard to the disturbing condition of the road under reference. And they pass through the road very often and none of them could muster the courage to talk about it to the president so that construction work could be resumed,” he regretted.
The governor pointed out that it was the same case with the Aba/Owerri road until the state government decided to fix it, adding that it was then the Federal Government hurriedly awarded the contract for the dualisation of the road to the same firm working for the state.
“It is important to remind Imo sons and daughters who drop the name of Mr President on every slightest issue to bring that connection to bear by influencing things to ensure that the Umuapu side of Port Harcourt/Owerri road is fixed without further delay to halt further deaths and armed robbery attacks on that side of the road,” Okorocha said.
But the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof Viola Onwuliri, dismissed the claims of the state government that all Federal Government projects in the state have been abandoned.
She disclosed that the Federal Government has just released the sum of N1.2 billion to the contractors to complete the road project after the rains.
The minister lambasted the state government for raising false alarm, wondering that the state government that is complaining about the Owerri/ Port Harcourt road is the same government that has been building roundabouts all over the state without a master plan.
“So, people should first remove the speck in their own eyes first to see clearly before criticizing others. It is a Federal Government road, the first part has been done and this one will also be done, we in the PDP-controlled Federal Government believe in due process, we don’t just wake up because you want to give contract to your company and you start to build roads.
“There are issues with the contractor which needed to be sorted out first and at some point the Federal Government wanted to lay off the contractor, but we had to go through the drawings again with the Ministry of the Niger Delta and the president has mandated the ministry to ensure that the project is completed as scheduled.
“Even the Ministry of Works has done some remedial work on that road pending when work will re-commence after the rains and I’m sure that the Imo State government is aware of that,” she said.
When Oriental News visited the Owerri/Port Harcourt expressway, construction equipment belonging to Arab Contractors, the firm handling the road project, are still lying idle as there were no workers on site.
However, motorists and commuters plying the road have continued to lament the terrible condition of the road, as well as falling victims to robbery attacks as robbers take advantage of the deplorable condition of the road to hit their targets.
A driver, Mr John Umunna, told Oriental News that the road was not safe any longer for motorists, especially at nights as armed robbers have taken advantage of the poor state of the road to attack them.
He disclosed that most people now avoid the Owerri/ Port Harcourt expressway like a plague.
“I have been attacked twice at Umuapu by armed robbers at night because that particular portion of the road has collapsed and ever since that time I cannot drive on this road when it is past 6:00 p.m. As a result most of those going to Port Harcourt now prefer to ply the Owerri/Aba road to avoid been trapped on the road, especially in this rainy season or falling victims to robbery attacks which have become the order of the day.
“We now spend more money on maintaining our vehicles which is an added cost, so it is important for the government to urgently repair that portion because that is our own dividend of democracy and if the road is smooth there would be no robbery attack on passengers and drivers using the road,” he said.
Similarly, John Bibor, a driver with a Port Harcourt-based transport company told Oriental News that the Imo State section of the Owerri/Port Harcourt highway was the worst as drivers and commuters are always afraid whenever they get to that portion, especially at nights as it has become the favourite spot for armed robbers, who usually attack passengers and drivers.
Although he said that he has been lucky not to have suffered any robbery attack at the spot, whenever it is after 7:00 o’clock at night he stops using the road.
His words: “I thanked God that my vehicle has not been attacked by armed robbers but some of my colleagues have not been so lucky becuase whenever it is past 7:00p.m I would rather take the Owerri/Aba expressway and then connect Port Harcourt from there instead to risk my life or that of the passengers. Although, the Owerri/ Port Harcourt expressway is the shortest route if you are going to Rivers State from Onitsha or Owerri but because of the bad condition of the road most drivers will rather take Aba road and then connect Port Harcourt. We are appealing to the state and Federal Government to help us repair the road.”
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