Commuters plying the Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway have appealed to the federal and Abia governments to save road users from untimely deaths on that stretch of the road.
The commuters made the appeal on Sunday in Aba, Abia when they spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The appeal came on the heels of an accident in which a 40-feet container fell from an articulated vehicle on an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus heading to Port Harcourt.
The falling container killed one of the passengers in the bus and left the 17 others critically injured.
NAN reports that the accident occurred on Friday at the Flyover Bus Stop near Alaoji Spare Parts Market because of failure of the road at that spot. It was the latest in a series of similar accidents.
A commercial driver Mr Anyalewachi Onyekwuru, said the failed road from Aba to Oyigbo in Rivers had claimed hundreds of lives.
He added that it had also caused many vehicles, especially articulated vehicles plying the route to develop mechanical faults and break down right on the road.
He enjoined the federal and Abia governments to work on the road to reduce accidents.
“Friday’s accident occurred few weeks after a similar incident led to the death of eight persons at the Ugwunagbo Local Government Area part of the same Aba-Port Harcourt Highway.
“The accident that killed that young man and injured many people on Friday was avoidable if only the government did palliative work using just stones to fill the potholes,’’ he said.
Another motorist, Mr Chinedum Nnabuihe, expressed regrets that the state government could not apply even palliative measures because the highway is called a federal road.
He said that heavy duty vehicles going or coming from Rivers, especially from Port Harcourt and from Bayelsa use the road, putting a lot of pressure on it.
Nnabuihe said that Abia government must have noticed that businesses had lost much patronage because of the failure of that expressway leading into Aba.
He expressed regret at the loss of eight lives on the same road few weeks ago and enjoined both state and federal governments to save road users on that expressway.
Mrs Mfon Moses, a trader who frequents Ariaria International Market, Aba, decried the stoppage of rail service between Port Harcourt and Aba which, she said was a better alternative for commuters.
She urged governments to ease the sufferings of Nigerians and argued that with little efforts the roads would be passable and Nigerians would become more patriotic. (NAN)
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