By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
Some motorists plying the Emohua-Kalabari road have lamented over its horrible condition which they claimed is spoiling their cars regularly.
The motorists, who spoke to journalists yesterday along the Emohua-Kalabari road, expressed regret over the continued neglect of the road despite its importance.
One of the drivers who said he hails from Kalabari Land, said: “They have painted the bridge but the bridge has been there, it’s number one. Then secondly, we want government to help us because the road is spoilt, very very spoilt.
“Why we’re saying this is, we have the deputy governor in our side. The deputy governor is from Kalabari, Harry’s Town, Degema Local Government. And we have the secretary to the state government, the same thing, from Kalabari. So, we don’t see the reason why we will be suffering from this road.
“Sometimes, because of this road, you see kidnappers kidnapping our people, taking our people, stopping us. And before, kidnappers were keeping something to stop us but now because of the bad road, they don’t keep anything.
“Once you just slow down from the potholes, you see people that are coming out from the bush, attacking us, taking our vehicles, kidnapping our people.
“So, we want the government to come and help us and do the road for us so that we can do our business the normal way.”
The driver disclosed that apart from facilitating kidnapping, the bad road also destroys their vehicles frequently. He appealed to the government to come to their aid fast.
“Same thing, it destroys our car: thambar, thyroid, brake, so many things in the vehicle spoil. When we run the money for the day, we go to the mechanic for the day also, to repair our vehicle. Government should help us to repair the road,” he said.
Another motorist, James Faka, whose blue Sienna car spoilt on the road and was still being repaired at the time of the interview, called for urgent rehabilitation of the deplorable road.
The Buguma-born James Faka said with his car breaking down in the middle of the road, his saving grace was the military officers who he said assisted him, adding that he didn’t know what would have happened to him.
James explained: “The road has been very so bad. You can see my car now, it’s as a result of this road. So, we’re pleading, whosoever is in charge or whosoever can come and be of help to us, should come and assist us and put the road in order because we have been suffering.
“Right now, if not because of the assistance of the military, maybe I don’t know what would have happened to me right here because of the bad road. “Now, my car has got spoilt. We’re pleading, whosoever is in charge, come and help us.”
A motocyclist, Alabo Eleki George, an indigene of Ilelema, in Kalabari Kingdom, expressed dismay over the poor state of the road.
He appealed to wealthy Kalabari people to assist in repairing the deplorable road.
He said: “If you look at the other side of this road, we’re appealing to other Kalabari able men and women to assist and comfort us from this road because those holes are like death traps. If you see how the trailers, the tippers and the bike men are doing, it’s something else.”
Also adding his voice, a young man
who said he hails from Buguma, said that the road is very important to Kalabari Land, being their only access road to the upland.
He said: “This is a major road that links the Kalabari Kingdom through the Emohua Local Government Area. And this road has impacted positively to the economic growth of the Kalabari Kingdom. “This is the only road we have. So, you can see that if anything happens to this road, it affects the entire Kalabari Kingdom.
“In those days we used to ply through the river with flying boats but now those creeks are really bad. Initially, from Port Harcourt to any of the Kalabari communities is about 45 minutes’ drive but now because of the pot holes, sometimes it takes us 1 hour 30 minutes.
“These potholes also elevate crime. Most times what brings about kidnapping is because the road is bad. If you turn to the Emohua axis, you will see that there’s a vehicle that broke down.”
