Travellers lament as Benin-Warri expressway remains impassable [PHOTOS]

Travellers have lamented the situation of the federal government expressway from Benin to Warri as the state of the road is nothing to write home about.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the expressway from the death trap fringes of Benin City through horrible Ologbo axis to gully-prone Oghara, wobbly Sapele bridges and outskirts of Warri is a terrible nightmare for travellers.

To reach Warri from Benin, a distance of just 100 kilometres that was initially 60 minutes drive, now takes over five hours journey.

This is even as a gas truck trying to manoeuvre through potholes on the bad portion of the road at Ugbenu axis in the Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State on Sunday fell into a ditch, bursting into flames.

Although there were no casualties as motorists scampered for safety, causing major traffic gridlock, some travellers who spoke with TNG decried the state of the road and called on the government to urgently do something about it.

“I have been in holdup for the past 1 hour now. Just from Warri to Oghara I am spending 2 hours on this road. It is sad. This is absurd and ridiculous. The federal government should take responsibility. We all use the road and so it should be fixed,” Mercy Francis said.

A motorist, who identified himself as Henry, told TNG, “It is pathetic, it took me almost 2 hours to get to Oghara from Mosogar. Ordinarily, this was supposed to be a journey of about 14 minutes. It is a shame. We pass through hell on this road.

“Benin to Warri road is becoming worse on a daily basis. Benin to Warri that used to be an hour and 30 minutes drive for me back then has turned 5 hours drive for me today with serious manoeuvring to do”.

On his part, Jeffrey Onwuka said, “Do our so-called leaders and politicians see this road? Is it that there is no money to put these roads in good shape or that they just want us to suffer? The government should act!

“Sometimes, I wonder if this is a country that’s full of oil and agriculture. Look at common Benin republic, Togo and even Ghana they have good roads and steady light constant without stop.

“Then you tell me that we have a government when they always embezzle us and secondly they will also send police to wait for people on their way home to search and collect their things. God help the Nigeria situation because lives are in danger for the road and bridge sake”.

Meanwhile, as Nigeria marked 60 years of nationhood, the Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa called on the Federal Government to embark on a total reconstruction of Benin-Warri highway, saying the road has collapsed.

The Governor made the call at an interdenominational thanksgiving service at Government House Chapel, Asaba to mark the independence anniversary of the country.

He said that the poor state of the roads had accounted for the loss of many lives and goods in accidents and robberies and also often resulted in the loss of man-hours through unending traffic snarls.

“I will use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to attend to the Benin-Warri road; it requires total reconstruction.

“The interventions we have been doing over the years definitely cannot bring any solutions at the moment. We will see what we can do as soon as the rains are over, but that road requires total reconstruction. It is beyond our limit as a state and we hope that the Federal Government will look into that,” the Governor said.