Mubi (Adamawa)—The people of Adamawa-North Senatorial District have urged the Federal Government to rehabilitate the 55-Kilometre Mubi-Hong Road to ease transportation and commercial activities in the area.
A cross section of the residents who spoke to newsmen in Mubi, yesterday, also urged the government to rehabilitate the Hong-Michika-Maiduguri Road as well as the 47-Kilometre Mubi-Maiha and Mubi-Gella-Muchala-Sahuda roads.

The roads are Federal highways linking Madagali, Maiha, Michika, Mubi-North and South local government areas with Gombe, Borno, and other parts of the country.

The more than 30-kilometre Mubi-Gella-Muchala-Sahuda road also links Nigeria with Cameroon and other Central African countries.

Reliable sources said the Federal Government had awarded various contracts for the rehabilitation of the roads since 2001, but that most of the projects were abandoned.

Investigation shows that only the contractor handling the Mubi-Gella-Muchala-Sahuda road is on site.
Apart from the high accident rate recorded on these roads, armed robbers have also taken advantage of their deplorable condition to attack and terrorise motorists.

The Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmadu, said the rehabilitation of these roads would open up the area for commecial activities.

He spoke yesterday in Mubi while receiving a member of the House of Representatives, Mallam Abubakar Madaki (PDP Maiha-Mubi-North and South).

A prominent busnessman in the area, Alhaji Hamman Adama,  said the poor state of the roads had negatively affected the flow of trade between Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.

He noted with regret that the situation had led to hikes in the prices of essential commodities due to the high cost of transportation.

Mr Samuel Yusuf, a civil servant, also decried the spate of armed robbery cases on the roads.

“We cannot travel freely for fear of armed bandits. They rob, kill and brutalise motorists at will,” he said.

The Police Area Commander, Mr Elinathal Yargawa, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said the command had intensified patrol and surveillance activities in the community.

He said the measure was aimed at clearing the roads of armed bandits and ensuring safety of road users, and appealed to the  people to assist the police with useful information to track down the bandits. (NAN)