From Ismaila Muhammad, Dutse
The busy Gujungu-Hadejia-Nguru Road in Jigawa State may soon be cut off from rest of cities, towns and villages along the road, as many parts of it were nearly washed away by torrential rainfalls, and threat by Hadejia River banks, investigation by our correspondent can reveal.
Further checks by The Triumph showed that many portions of the roads close to Kutal, Dingare, Marke and Yalo among others have been eroded and causing havoc as many carnages were everyday recorded with causalities.
Our correspondent reports that a portion of the road near Kutal village sunk and devastated which causes ghastly motor accidents every day and night where drivers, in trying to divert the scene, fail and involve in carnage.
Similarly, another portion at Dingare has been washed away by water which was coming from the tributaries of Hadejia River to the northern part of the area.
It was gathered reliably that the damage was caused by the last year’s flood and made tarred road feeder.
According to a commercial vehicle driver who plies the road daily from Kano to Hadejia, Malam Aliyu Shitu, said that the damaged and eroded portions cause carnage along the road, adding the situation of the road causes loss of lives daily.
“The devastation has happened since last year during the rainy season following the over flow of the Hadejia Rivers that forced its tributaries divert the water towards that northern parts and resulted in destroying hundreds of hectares of farm lands where crops worth millions of Naira have been lost by farmers in Kaugama Local Government Area of the state.
Another person, Malam Garba Sani Hadejia confirmed to The Triumph that, a total of 30 accidents were recorded in two weeks this year alone apart from those that happened last year, each with loss of lives.
He urged the Federal and Jigawa State Governments to look into the condition of the road by repairing it with a view to saving many lives that are being lost everyday.
It was reported that the road was the Federal Road renovated by the predecessors of Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of the state, which the Federal Government reimbursed the state.
A cross-section of the users of road interviewed by our correspondent who visited the spot, expressed their displeasure and lamented the way the state and the Federal governments neglected the road as it was left unrepaired since last year, a situation they described as injustice meted against them by those authorities concerned despite the impotence of the road as it links many states of the federation including Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno.
In a related development, the portions of the bridge linking Gwaram Sabo to Basirka, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba States were eroded and threatening motorists who ply the road.
Efforts by our correspondent to contact either the state
Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Aminu Usman or his Permanent Secretary, Engr. Datti Ahmad proved abortive.
