Residents of Umuawulu community in the Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Wednesday, protested alleged government neglect of the area.
Scores of the residents gathered around the Hana Bridge and lamented that it had caved in because successive governments had abandoned it.
Stating that the bridge linked their community with no fewer than 10 others in Anambra, they maintained that it was the shortest route to get to Imo, Rivers and Abia states.
The protesters gave Governor Willie Obiano one month to address their grievances.
The spokesperson for the protesters, Osita Obi, expressed surprise that a community located within the Awka capital territory could be so neglected.
Obi said the community had written several letters to the state Ministry of Works on the condition of the bridge to no avail.
He said, “To further show you how this government hates us, it omitted our name on signage indicating communities around this place.
“But we have resolved that if we don’t see any change from the government, we’ll mobilize the entire community to close this bridge to traffic until the government does something about it.
“This road leads to the NYSC orientation camp, Amaokpala, Agulu, Nanka, Ekwulobia, Oko, Ajali and Ufuma as well as Imo, Abia, and Rivers states.
“The most important thing is the issue of the NYSC, whose orientation camp is just a few meters away from here. Are they bringing the corps members to come and die here?
“We’re demanding that urgent action be taken to save the lives of the corps members and the entire community.
“The governor visited here when it collapsed two years ago. I’m reminding him in case he has forgotten. Let him do something urgent about the bridge.”
In his reaction, the state Commissioner for Works, Marcel Ifediora, said the government was aware of the state of the bridge and had concluded arrangements to fix it.
In a related development, two collapsed bridges have cut off 16 villages in the Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and thrown the residents into hardship.
The affected 16 villages include Nkwot Ikot AkpaIsiak, Ikot Ette, Ikot Umoessien, Nkwot Nko, Ikot Enie, Ikot Okpo, Ikot Nseyen, Nung Imo, Ikot Idomo and Ikot Obio Ata.
Others are Ikot Udo, Obio Ediene, Etip Ediene, Iton Ikot Ito, Iton Mmong and Nnung Ukim.
It was gathered that the Nkwot Ikot Nseyen-Nung Ukim and Iton Ikot Ito-Iton Mmong bridges collapsed during the administration of former governor Godswill Akpabio.
The Chairman of the local government, Itoro Columbia, said the collapsed bridges had brought untold hardship to the residents of the villages, who are mostly farmers
He said, “One of the bridges, which is supposed to serve as the nexus connecting two wards, broke down many years ago, making it difficult to move from ward six to ward seven.
“Beyond linking the villages, a large majority of the natives are farmers and you can imagine the adverse effects that the collapsed bridges have on farming activities. It is as bad as that.
“But we have a ray of hope when Governor Udom Emmanuel awarded contracts for some of the roads in the area and I think that if not for the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse consequences on the economy of the state, the bridges would have been fixed by now.”
However, worried by the impact of the collapsed bridges on the communities, the lawmaker representing the Ikono State Constituency in state House of Assembly, Mr Asuquo Udo, appealed for the urgent intervention of the state government.
Udo made the appeal by way of a motion titled: ‘Collapsed bridges in Ikono State Constituency: Urgent call for government intervention’.
The lawmaker prayed the House to “urge Akwa Ibom State Government to direct relevant agencies to intervene by taking steps to inspect the broken down bridges.”
He also urged the government to ensure that remedial measures were immediately taken to enable pedestrian access between the communities and to avert any loss of life.
The lawmaker said the people of Ikono are predominantly traders and farmers, who relied on access roads linked by bridges to convey their goods to neighbouring villages and markets in order to earn a living.
While sympathizing with residents of the affected communities, Udo expressed worry that if urgent steps were not taken by the relevant authorities, accidents leading to loss of lives might occur and students might be unable to attend schools in the nearby villages on the resumption of academic activities.
The Speaker of the House, Aniekan Bassey, referred the motion to the House Committee on Works and Transport for assessment of the affected bridges and present recommendations to the house.