2nd Niger Bridge ready in June, says Works Controller •Urges Police to relax checkpoints

By CHIMEZIE ANASO

The second Niger Bridge may be completed by the second quarter of 2022, according to Mr Adeyemo Ajani, Federal Controller of Works in Anambra.

He said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Friday, that the contractor handling the project is on site and has been working uninterrupted after a cumulative one-year delay as a result of COVID-19 lockdown and issues with contract affected communities.

He, however, said these issues have been sorted out and that hopefully the job would be delivered in the second quarter of 2022.

He said the contracts for the connecting roads have been awarded but the contractors have not been mobilised.

“Job is still on course, the Federal Government has never relented and the contractor is working hard to deliver the project by the second quarter of next year,” he said.

On the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Ajani said work has been completed on the Enugu bound lane from Umunya to Awka and that work would commence on the Enugu bound lane in January.

He said though traffic had moved to the rebuilt lane of the road, motoring was much easier than it was in the past.

The Federal Controller, however, decried the effect of multiple checkpoints on the Onitsha-Owerri expressway on free flow of traffic.

He said the Police should vacate the highway to enable Motorists move without hassles and come up with more modern approaches to checking crime.

Ajani, who regretted the stretch of gridlock on the roads, said the aim of fixing the roads is to ensure that people traveled without difficulty, especially during the Christmas and New Year periods.

According to him, the Onitsha-Owerri road is in good shape apart from where contractors are working around Idemili Bridge, but there is a police checkpoint there that is a challenge to traffic.

“They don’t seem to understand the importance of free flow of traffic, the road blocks mounted on that road constitute nuisance, sometimes the traffic stretch from Oba to that bridge.
“They should relax these checkpoints and allow free flow of traffic around the state, especially during this Yuletide period,” he said. (NAN)