Alphonsus Nweze
Civil Society groups have called on Federal Government and Anambra State Government to immediately begin rehabilitation of Onitsha end of Onitsha-Owerri Road, which has become an unpassable and death trap to the users.
The Campaign for Democracy (CD) and Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE) made the call in a joint statement they made available to newsmen in Awka, the Anambra State capital, weekend.
In the statement signed by the Chairman of CD in South East and Executive Director, HURIDE, Dede Uzor A Uzor, the groups lamented that the portion of the road from Upper Iweka to Oba has not only become impassable, death traps but den of robbers.
The groups lamented that the breakdown of vehicles especially heavy-duty types also posed danger to road users as they cause accidents as well as
gridlock.
“The terrible state of the road has led to an upsurge of the breakdown of vehicles and made the place a hideout for criminals who attack people, injure them, collect their money and other valuables,” said the groups in the joint statement.
The rights groups called on the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately commence the rehabilitation of such a major economic road, considering how strategic it is to the southeast and south southern Nigeria
They also called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State to as a matter of urgency start palliative works on the state roads, giving strategic importance to Onitsha, the major economic city of the State.
In the same vein, the groups said the Anambra State Government should urgently tackle the roads because they are used by Anambra and Igbo people daily.
They pointed that the Onitsha-Owerri road links many major markets in Onitsha such as Electrical Parts, Stock Fish, Ogbaru Main Market, Ochanja and even the Onitsha Main Market, hence the strategic economic importance of the road.
The rights groups also called on the security agencies in the State especially the Nigerian Police, DSS and the Nigerian Navy that mounted roadblocks on the road to deploy their crack squad and intelligence team to forestal the activities of criminals who took undue advantage of the deplorable state of the road to
perpetuate and unleash crime along the road, especially as From 6 pm till 9.30 pm between the new Obosi bridge and Oba.
