By Okerafor Athanasius, Jalingo
The non-repair of a collapsed bridge in Namnai, Gassol Local Government Area (LGA) of Taraba State,North-East Nigeria, is giving motorists and people of the area grave concern.
The bridge is located on a federal highway, the Jalingo-Wukari expressway.
The huge risks faced by passers-by and other road users while crossing a river beneath the bridge drew the attention of the Chairman, Gassol LGA, Hon. Abubakar Sadiq.
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Ministry of Works to intensify efforts towards urgent repair of the collapsed bridge.
Hon. Sadiq, who spoke to journalists in his Jalingo residence, said the collapsed bridge did not only link Taraba to other states in the North-East but other parts of the country.
The Council Chairman told reporters that the Senator representing Taraba Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, Sen. Haruna Manu, had once presented the matter and made a clarion call on the floor of the Senate for the Federal Government (FG) to, as a matter of urgency, repair the collapsed bridge.
He said: “At the Local Government level, we have written to the Federal Ministry of Works, reminding them the implications of not repairing the bridge up to the period of 2025 rainy season. This is because there may be enormous flood in the area.
“We are still pleading and reminding the Federal Government to kindly come to our aid and rescue us before the advent of the year’s rainy season.”
Hon. Sadiq disclosed that some FG officials were once received by the Council when they came to assess the level of damage done on the bridge.
According to him, after taken stock of items, they left and had not returned.
Hon. Sadiq thanked Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas for his bid to relieve the situation, pointing out that when the bridge collapsed, the governor instructed the Council to provide some local canoes to carry people and goods from one point to the other.
“Gentlemen of the Press, the method being used in crossing the river still remains the use of local canoes and this has caused delays to road users”, he added.
Our correspondent reports that the bridge collapsed under a barrage of heavy rainfall in 2024.
