By Peter Duru, Makurdi 

A trip to Benue State, particularly from the South Eastern part of the country, can be nightmarish due to the horrible nature of the road. But it remains important in the transportation hub of Nigeria connecting the food basket of the country. 

Apart from the rampaging armed herdsmen who have converted the forests along the Otukpa-Ugbokolo-Eke axis into a haven from where they unleash attacks and abduct unsuspecting road users for ransom, virtually all the federal roads in the state have become deplorable. 

The development has sparked outrage as it has become laborious to drive from the Southern part of the country via the East into Makurdi Town or the ancient Gboko Town given the treacherous state of the roads. 

Indeed, it is also arduous to travel on the Yandev-Ugbema-Katsina/Ala Road, Gboko-Aliade, the Otukpo-Obi-Oju to mention just a few. 

As a result of the difficulties encountered by commuters on the road, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, raised concern over the deplorable state of the roads and appealed to the Federal Government to synergise with the state government to get them fixed. 

Similarly, Governor Samuel Ortom, Senators Abba Moro, Orker Jev and Gabriel Suswam have all added their voices to the call on the Federal Government to intervene to get the roads fixed given the resulting adverse effects on the socio-economic well-being of the farming populace and commuters alike. 

But without willing to wait any longer for any form of intervention by the Federal authorities, aggrieved youths of Apir community on the busy Makurdi-Aliade Road, barricaded the near-impassable road in protest to draw the attention of the agencies concerned to the situation. This was after several accidents in their community with trucks laden with goods tumbling over and spilling their contents into the many gullies on the road. 

The angry youths, who bore placards with various inscriptions like “Enough is enough; Federal Government fix Benue roads”, “What is our sin in Benue State?, “Federal Government repair our roads”, among others, also sang solidarity songs as they took over the road for several hours. 

The development left commuters stranded for several hours while some were forced to reverse and make a detour to Makurdi town to access the equally horrible Makurdi-Naka route. 

It was gathered that the youths were angered by the fact that they had on a daily basis recorded several crashes in the community without any form of intervention from the Federal agencies responsible for the maintenance of the road. 

One of the protesters, who identified himself as Shima Kugh, lamented that they were forced to protest over the state of the road because there had been no response after several appeals were made to the Federal Ministry of Works to fix the deplorable road. 

Kugh pointed out thus: “Some of the drivers in a bid to avoid the very bad portions of the road drive into our community and in the process destroy our farms. And we are also scared that a tanker carrying fuel might fall here and you know what that means to the safety of our people. 

“That is why we are protesting to draw the attention of the Federal Government to this road because it is a federal road. And they told us over two years ago that contract was awarded for the construction of the road but till date nothing has happened. We will do this daily until something is done by the authorities,” he said. 

It was gathered that it took the intervention of the traditional ruler in the community to pacify the angry youths who reopened the road but with a threat to continue with the action if nothing was heard from the authorities. 

The Benue State Works and Transport Commissioner, Engr. Jude Uungwa, also lamented that the condition of federal roads in the state had become a source of worry for the people of the state. 

He stated that while the state government was delivering on the construction of roads in parts of the state, “it was expected that the Federal Government would play its parts by ensuring that federal roads are put in good condition in order to help our people move their farm produce from the rural communities.” 

He added “that is not the case at the moment because almost all the federal roads that traverse the state are in deplorable state. 

“The development is actually a cause for concern for all. I tried to engage the Federal Controller of Works in the state a few days ago because of the worrisome situation but he told me that the Federal Government was on top of it and that action was in the pipeline and all that. 

“He also told me that contracts for repair of some of the roads have already been awarded. I particularly asked him about the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka axis, he said that, at a point that the contractors left site. 

“We are calling on the Federal Government to come to our aid in good time. Whatever the bottlenecks are, they should just get over it in good time so that the people can get relief. 

“The truth must be told: the plight of the people must be taken into account and something has to be done because the federal roads that traverse Benue are in a sorry state.”