Badagry expressway a death trap, “national embarrassment” — Lagos lawmaker

By ADEKUNLE WILLIAMS

A Lagos lawmaker and some concerned residents have lamented over the deplorable condition of Badagry Expressway, describing the road as a death trap.

Addressing a news conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Mr Setonji David, the lawmaker representing Badagry Constituency II in Lagos House of Assembly, said that the road had become a “national embarrassment.”

David said that the people of Badagry had been cut off from civilization due to the bad state of the road.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lagos State Government is responsible for the Iganmu – Okokomaiko section of the highway while FERMA is handling Okokomaiko – Agbara axis of the road.

Also, the federal government in 2018 awarded the reconstruction of 46km Agbara – Seme section of Badagry expressway to CGC Nigeria Limited which had abandoned the project.

The lawmaker added that the carriageway had failed completely.

“Driving on Badagry road is like traveling in a war zone; the rain has even worsened the situation. The state of the road is now terrible.

“Another problem that we have on the road is that of extortion by security agents.

“They are even making life worse for our people. You’ll see a security checkpoints after every kilometer.

“There are cases of people having health emergencies and due to the state of the road, the vehicle would break down and the patient would die,” David said.

The lawmaker appealed to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to urgently fix the highway to save the country from further embarrassment.

“Nobody wants to come to Badagry to do business or tourism anymore and things are very expensive in the area now.

“To bring goods from Lagos metropolis to Badagry costs a lot of money and this makes life difficult for our people. You can only imagine what our people are going through now.

“So, we are appealing to Lagos State and Federal Government to come to our aid,” the lawmaker said.

Also addressing newsmen, Mr Podo Segla, a Badagry youth activist, said that the economic loss of transporters and commuters on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway could not be quantified.

Segla recounted how he once slept on the road in Agbara on his way from Lagos due to the condition of the road.

Another concerned resident, Hunwei Abel, said passing through a bush path was better than going through Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Abel said that the health of the residents of Badagry was being affected due to the condition of the road.

“This is a road that goes as far as Orile and Eric Moore, but it is terrible from Mile 2 down to Badagry.

“We’re all seeing the hardship our people are going through on the road since the rain started this year.

“Our population has reduced and our economy is bad because of the state of the road,” he said.

Mrs Dupe Ogunyemi, a trader said she spent up to 12 hours to reach Badagry from Mile 2 as people now come to Badagry through the waterways which was very expensive and unsafe.

Ogunyemi appealed to the federal and state governments to repair the roads as soon as possible. (NAN)