Hundreds of commuters plying Ibadan-Abeokuta road have threatened to block the road over alleged abandonment of the road.
They noted that they will make the road impassable until President Muhammadu Buhari makes funds available to complete the abandoned rehabilitation works on the road.
The aggrieved road users noted that they were losing millions of naira due to hardship they face daily on the road.
Some of those plying the included residents of Omi-Adio, Orile and Kila in Ido local government area in Oyo State.
Others are residents of Odeda Local Governments area in Ogun states.
The commuters vowed to stop vehicles from using the road if nothing is done by the federal government to address the bad condition of the road.
The concerned residents in a protest letter signed by
The concerned residents who spoke through their spokesperson, Pa Fasanmi Coker expressed disappointment over the status of the road.
He maintained that it was unfortunate that the federal government has “failed to dualise the busy Ibadan- Abeokuta Expressway.
He then urged the “federal government to begin the dualisation to check the high rate of accidents on the highway.
He said the “Ibadan-Abeokuta Expressway, being one of the oldest in the country, is overdue for dualisation”.
The aggrieved residents who expressed disappointment over government’s handling of the road said that the government short-changed the public.
The Federal Controller of Works in Oyo state, Engineer. Kayode Ibrahim, when contacted, appealed to the public to bear with the government.
He noted that the contractor handling the project is being owed by the government.
Ibrahim said, “Yes, the contractor, Kopek Construction Company, normally carries out repair works on the road. We normally asked them to do that because you know the road is getting out of hand.
“The challenge is that the contractor has been owed a lot of money for a very long time, and the government is working round the clock to clear all their debts. And as soon as the debts are cleared, we will ask them to go back to the site”.
Managing Director of the contractor handling the project, Kopek Construction Company, Mr F. Issam urged the public not to attribute accidents on the road to structural design of the road.
Issam who spoke through the site Engineer, Mr Paul Chamun urged the public not to attribute the accidents on the road to structural design.
He said that engineering design and components of the highway have nothing to do with the accidents on the highway.
