By Emma Una

BAKASSI and Akpabuyo Local Government Areas have been cut off from the rest of Cross River State as the condition of the road linking the two councils have worsened following torrential rainfall.

Governor Ben Ayade

The road, which also links Lafarge Cement Company, has been severely devastated in the past six months but got worse recently leading to its being cut at Atimbo village and effectively cutting off the two councils.

When Vanguard visited the area, yesterday, several vehicles and commuters travelling to the two local government areas were stranded at the devastated spot on the road.

Drivers and passengers who were desperate to get to their destinations appealed to the governor of the state, Prof. Ben Ayade, who had earlier promised to fix the road, to reconnect the two local councils to the rest of the state.

A truck driver who was heading to the Mfamosing plant of Lafarge, Joseph Laolu, said the state government has been collecting N12,800 since 2012 as levies without any attempt to repair the road, saying the situation was compounded by the rainy season.

“I am supposed to go to Mfamosing to carry cement but I cannot do that now because there is no road and I don’t know when we will leave here. Cross River State Government is collecting about N12,800 per truck that enters the state and we are more than 250 trucks coming here to load. We are really stranded,” Laolu said.

A commuter who gave her name as Mrs. Mary Effiong, wandered why the state government allowed the road to deteriorate so badly given its economic importance to the state.

“Governor Ben Ayade said he wants to construct 260km of road and construct a deep sea port in Bakassi. Look at what we are suffering. We cannot go to Ikang in Bakassi to buy fish or do anything. Truck drivers who pay levies are stranded here. The governor was coming to Bakassi until the road became bad and he stopped coming here. We are stranded,” she said.

Meanwhile, youths from Akpabuyo and Bakassi have threatened to protest over the bad condition of roads in the area, complaining that the situation has left them without patronage in their various businesses.

A youth leader from Akpabuyo who gave his name as Asuquo Nyong said: “We are watching to see what the governor will do. The situation is such that those who ride motorcycles and tricycles here are no longer having patronage, businesses are no longer moving because the road has cut us off. We are planning to protest this situation because the governor cannot promise to give us a deep sea port without road.”

Attempts to reach the Commissioner for Works, Mr. Dane Osim, failed as he did not pick his call.