BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Residents of Ilobu, Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun in Osun State have sent a Save-Our-Soul message to the Federal Government on the deplorable condition of the roads leading to their communities.
The inhabitants of the affected communities described the crater-infested road linking their settlements with Osogbo, the Osun State capital, as a death trap.
In the same vein, motorists plying the Osogbo-Ogbomoso Road have urged the government to ensure the speedy completion of its construction in order to save them from the trauma being experienced on the bad sections of the road.
The motorists said that the entry and exit points at the Erinle Bridge and the Ilobu Market area, up to Ifon-Osun, were the most deplorable sections of the road.
Those who spoke with The Point said that the road had become very notorious for accidents, stressing that the state of the road had been worsened by the rain.
A community leader in Ifon-Osun, Dada Akani, said that it would usually take motorists an average of 30 minutes to cross the bridge, which he said was gradually becoming impassable. Meanwhile, he suggested that the Federal Government should order the contractor that handled the road project back to site to complete the work.
He said, “The road has become a death trap. We record crashes there on a daily basis. Motorists spend up to 30 minutes on the bridge as a result of its bad condition and because it is narrow. This has affected the movement of vehicles greatly. A few days ago, there was an accident on the road and it resulted in a long queue. It is usually worse on market days.
“We call on the Federal Government to order the contractor handling the road project back to site. We were informed that it is a Federal Government road and it has been under construction for a while now. More so, they should hasten work on the bridge. It has taken too long and it is affecting our community.”
A commercial driver, Ibrahim Apata, told The Point that travellers plying the road, apart from spending long hours, also expended huge amount of money on spare parts as a result of mechanical faults.
“We spend long time on the road and also spend huge amount of money on spare parts as a result of the bad condition of the road. When they started, we thought that they would complete it but they have abandoned it for a long time. The portion that they tarred had gone bad again. We urge President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Gboyega Oyetola to help us out. The suffering is too much,” Apata said.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Ilobu-Asake Development Union, Kazeem Alabi, said the road from the Erinle Bridge to Ifon-Osun was in a bad shape.
He urged the contractor handling the bridge project to complete it in order to allow for free flow of traffic in the area.
