Eight markets, prisons cut off

For motorists, market men and women in Kwara State, the past four days have been very frustrating and difficult following the collapse of Moro bridge in Aiyelabowo/Mandala axis, a suburb of Ilorin in Asa Local Government Area of the state.

The bridge which has been in existence since the colonial era, has been falling and failing for over a decade, according to findings by Daily Trust. Several appeals to the government have fallen on deaf ears while motorists and market men and women who depend on the road to make ends meet have suffered untold hardships.

The latest incident in the gradual collapse of the bridge was on Sunday when a Leyland DAF truck with registration number LAGOS XY 305 JJJ, crashed off it, preventing vehicular movement with its attendant economic losses. 

No fewer than eight markets in Kwara and Oyo states have been affected as a result of the condition of the bridge. These include Mandala, Alapa, Igbeti (Oyo), Igboho (Oyo), Kishi (Oyo), Saki (Oyo), Kaiama and Baruten. Besides linking the eight towns, the bridge is the only route travellers ply to the neighbouring Benin Republic near Baruten in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Also, the bridge is said to have constituted security threat to the Mandala Medium Security Prisons. Sources said movement of inmates from the prison to court has been stalled while the situation has heightened fear of robbery attacks on the federal highway.

When Daily Trust correspondent visited the bridge yesterday, the truck which fell inside it has been towed away while motorists had to devise alternatives on the bush paths to proceed on their journeys.

It was gathered that motorists coming from Oyo State who could not pass through the dingy bush paths created as alternative routes were forced to go through Ogbomosho road.

This, according to the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Issa Ore, has added another 150 kilometers to their journey.

Giving an insight into the bad condition of the bridge in a telephone interview with Daily Trust, Ore recalled that the bridge was built as an emergency route by former Defence Minister, late Alhaji Akanbi Oniyangi who was one-time Wali of Ilorin.

"You will discover the bridge was constructed with iron steel and we have been appealing to the federal government to come to our aid and reconstruct this bridge. It is the only route that links Kwara to Oyo State and to Benin Republic; it is like the economic live-wire of many people, including motorists and the market people. Now people would be grumbling that we have increased transport fare but do we have option when we have to resort to a longer route because of the bridge?," he said.

 Daily Trust correspondent observed many private and commercial cars broken down along the patched alternative routes devised by the motorists while villagers cashed in on the situation to extort money from motorists, claiming the charges were a compensation for helping to patch up the access routes.

Some elderly market women who were returning from Alapa market where they had bought grains and yam flour were seen pushing a loaded taxi cab which developed a fault along the alternative route which motorists say would be equally impassable when the rains set in.

The market women after sighting our reporter appealed to him to help prevail on the government to come to their aids.

Alhaji Abdulganiyu Olaitan in an interview with Daily Trust correspondent criticised government for allegedly failing to reconstruct the bridge despite several appeals and complaints.

 "We are not happy; we are very sad because this bridge is very central to our survival as business people, as motorists, as market men and women. I don't know why the government has ignored our cries for years. This thing has not just started, it is a perennial problem we have been experiencing and we are suffering a lot", said Olaitan, a businessman at Mandala.

Also, a passenger, Mrs. Fatimoh Saka, confirmed that the situation has so many security implications, adding that armed robbers could take advantage of the situation to operate.

The NURTW Chairman, Oloje branch, Alhaji Ibrahim Olaiya, who said he was tired of speaking to the press on the situation of the bridge lamented that most of the motorists would have quit the business but they had no other means of survival. He said they have relocated to the bridge to create the alternative routes in the bush but that they were not convenient for them (motorists), adding that for the past 10 years that the bridge has been collapsing, the union spends as much as N300,000 at every occasion to patch it up.

Daily Trust recalled that Rep Moshood Mustapha (APC, Kwara) who represents Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency visited the bridge last year when it broke down but no major repair work has been done until Sunday when the bridge collapsed again.

The state Commissioner for Works who could comment on what the government is doing to alleviate the suffering of the people has not been appointed in the state. Press Secretary of the ministry, Mr. Abdulganiyu Atere, said he is not competent to comment on the issue and asked Daily Trust correspondent to wait until a commissioner is in place.