The dilapidated state of Otukpo-Enugu Road has caused angst among residents of Benue State.
To express their displeasure over the horrid situation, the residents- comprising young men and women-gathered and held a pool party in mud waters to celebrate the 2022 Independence Day anniversary on the road to draw the Federal Government’s attention to their plight.
This, they reasoned, will encourage the government to fix the Otukpo-Enugu Highway that has fallen apart. The protesters and road users said their action will snowball into blocking the road to motorists, especially the government officials, if nothing is done to mobilise the contractor handling the project back to site.
According to them, the entire stretch from Otukpo through the heart of Ochi’doma place to Enugu Roundabout is now death trap.
While lamenting the economic waste the road has become, a truck driver who identified himself as Nwakama, appealed to the Federal Government to fix the road to save them from the huge losses of petroleum products.
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions such as “Democracy has Failed Us,” among others.
For 10 years now, construction work has been ongoing on the Enugu-Otukpo-Aliade Road but not much has been done to fix the deterioration on the road which has claimed many lives and led to lots of economic losses.